The Path of Virtue
by TheMessengerofChaos
Summary: After finally defeating Yugi Moto and reclaiming his title as World Champion, Seto Kaiba is givin a challenge by a man known as Horus, a mamber of an eliete dueling orginazation known as The Saints Yugi and his frends tag along. After seeing Kaiba defeat
1. Chapter 1

This story was made by my friends Dan "Maximus" Vetrano and Matt "Spade" Hall. Neither them nor I owns Yu-gi-oh.

Chapter 1: The Challenge

The final match of the World Duel Monsters Championships was about to begin. It came as no surprise to anyone that the final match pitted the two top ranked duelists in the world against each other, Yugi Moto versus his archrival Seto Kaiba. For three long years Kaiba had been waiting for this day, a chance to finally defeat Yugi and reclaim his title as the #1 duelist in the world. Ever since that fateful duel when Yugi assembled the mighty Exodia and handed Kaiba his first defeat ever, Kaiba had been waiting for an opportunity to even the score. Many times in the past he had fought fiercely against his foe, but somehow Yugi always prevailed. Kaiba was determined not to fall again. As he and Yugi stepped into the arena for the finals the look on Kaiba's face was one of true determination. This time he wanted victory more than he had ever had before. As was the case for all of their previous duels, Yugi remained confident in his power to defeat Kaiba. He had all of his friends cheering him from the sidelines. Although the Millennium Puzzle that used to hang around Yugi's neck had been destroyed some 6 months ago, hr could still feel the presence of The Pharaoh inside of him. The two contestants took their places on opposite sides of the arena, presented each others deck to be shuffled and cut by the referee and waited for the coin toss. Yugi called tails, and lost. Kaiba elected to go first in the duel. With that both players had their life points set to 4000 and drew 5 cards.

"It's time for you to finally taste defeat Yugi." the arrogant as always Kaiba blared to his opponent. "I'll start by placing two cards face down and summoning Vorce Raider in Attack Mode!!!" "Go Ahead."

Yugi confidently drew his sixth card. Unfortunately nothing in his hand could defeat Vorce Raider. Kaiba's Monster had 1900 Attack Points.

"I'll place one card face down, and set one monster in defense mode and end my turn." 

With that Kaiba drew his next card. As he looked at it the smile on his face began to grow.

"Now to let the pain commence Yugi! You should have known that sooner or later your little 'Heart of the Cards' speeches and your luck would run out and my superior skill and deck would prevail."

"Enough Kaiba!!" retorted the champion. "After all this time do you still not believe in putting your heart into your cards?"

"For the last time Yugi, I'm sick of your speeches!!" Kaiba told Yugi. "Now I'll summon Spear Dragon in Attack Mode. And just for added measure, I'll equip my dragon with this!! The Black Pendant, raising it's attack power from 1900 to 2400" Now Spear Dragon, Attack with Cyclone Blast"

At this command Kaiba's Dragon opened its mouth and released a swirling ball of wind directly at Yugi's face-down monster. Upon impact the monster was revealed to be Giant Soldier of Stone, with a Defense rating of 2000. Yugi's soldier withstood the blast as best he could but ultimately was destroyed by it. Yugi's life points then dropped down to 3600 due to Spear Dragon's ability to inflict damage to life points even by destroying monsters in defense mode. Kaiba chuckled gleefully at this sight.

"Ha Ha Ha!!" The cocky challenger laughed. "And that was only the beginning. Now Vorce Raider attack his life points directly!!"

With this, Vorce Raider threw his axe at Yugi and connected sending a shock down his body as well as the bodies of the crowd of 25,000 packed into the stadium watching this shocking duel. Only two turns in and Yugi was down to 1700 Life points while Kaiba still had all 4000 of his.

"Come on Yugi!! You can do it" Shouted Tea Gardner from the stands.

Cheering was all she could do at this point and she knew Yugi would need all the support he could get right now.

"Yeah Yug!! Turn this around like always and whoop 'Rich-Boy' over there!" Joey Wheeler yelled out in support of his friend.

At this point Yugi could feel the power from his friends flowing from inside of him. He needed to pull another of his famed "Heart of the Cards" moments in his draw and he did.

"You still don't believe in the Heart of the Cards Kaiba??" Then how do you explain this? I activate Dark Magic Curtain! At the cost of half of my Life Points, I can Special Summon any Dark Magician from my Deck. And I chose Dark Magician Girl!"

As Yugi's Life Points dropped down to 850 a black curtain appeared on his side of the field. It rose up and quickly dropped down disappearing. When it was gone, there stood Dark Magician Girl. At 2000 Attack points she could easily defeat Kaiba's Vorce Raider or Spear Dragon, since it had switched to defense mode after it had attacked. But Yugi wasn't done yet.

"Now I play my face-down card, Sage's Stone." Since I have out a Dark Magician Girl this will allow me to summon Dark Magician."

Now things got interesting for now a magical circle appeared on the ground beneath Dark Magician Girl and Dark Magician sprang up from within the circle and stood beside Dark Magician Girl.

"Dark Magician, attack his Vorce Raider, Dark Magic Attack!!!"

Yugi's Dark Magician pointed his staff at Kaiba's Vorce Raider and released a burst of energy towards him. Vorce Raider was destroyed instantly on impact causing Kaiba to lose 600 life points. Yugi then ordered Dark Magician Girl to attack Spear Dragon. She defeated it easily but by doing so destroyed Kaiba's Black Pendant causing Yugi to lose another 500 life points, leaving him with only 350 remaining, to Kaiba's 3400. But with his two strong monsters on the field, Yugi felt he had hope.

"This Duel is far from over Kaiba." Yugi confidently told his opponent.

The crowd roared in approval. Soon a chant of "Yugi-Yugi-Yugi" broke out. This started to anger Kaiba even more.

"Arrrrrrrrgh, That's it Yugi!! You're going down, RIGHT NOW!!!" "My move! I activate Premature Burial. By paying 800 life points I can revive my Vorce Raider. Next I activate the magic card Cost Down. By discarding Lord of Dragons from my hand I downgrade all monsters in my hand by two stars. Allowing me to sacrifice Vorce Raider to summon forth my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!!!!!!"

And the mighty dragon emerged forth from onto the field and roared with all its ferocity.

"Blue-Eyes attack his Dark Magician with White Lightning!!"

Kaiba's Dragon reared its head back and released a burst of lightening at Yugi's Dark Magician. Dark Magician tried to resist the force of the blast but to no avail. Dark Magician was destroyed. Yugi's life points dropped down to zero, and at once all of the monsters on the playing field were gone as the holographic projectors turned off.

"The winner and NEW world Duel Monsters Champion, Seto Kaiba!" Came the voice over the public address system.

As the two contestants descended from their respective playing stations of the dueling platform the crowd fell silent. Joey, Tea, and Tristan all ran over to Yugi in order to console him. No one expected Yugi to lose so easily to his arch nemesis in the Finals. Only the voice of the new champion broke the awkward silence. He took a microphone and began a tirade against Yugi.

"Yugi!!! At long last your reign is over and I am once again the best duelist in the world. I have beaten you at last!! All your talk about 'The Heart of the Cards couldn't save you today. It takes skill to win at this game, and powerful monsters in your deck. And I have both and you and everyone else here knows it. I am Seto Kaiba and there is no one that is superior to me."

For about 10 seconds there was once again complete silence in the arena. Then out of nowhere there emerged the sound of applause. Not a roaring standing ovation type of cheer, but rather the sound of one person clapping his hands methodically. The clapping grew louder and louder until there emerged on the arena floor a single man clapping his hands. He was fairly tall and appeared to be muscular despite his slightly heavy physique. He was dressed in a black double breasted P-Coat and jeans. He also had sunglasses on. As he approached the center of the arena he began to speak.

"Impressive win there Seto my boy" He said very non-chalantly as if he did not have a care in the world. "A bit rough around the edges but still impressive nonetheless. Although there was one very big problem with your performance. You see all I hear from you is how much you think 'This game is all about power.' Well I hate to tell you this but with that kind of attitude you'll never be a true champion. I tell you what, tomorrow night at around 7 O'clock head over to a place called Game Sanctuary. It's about 10 miles east of here, and I'll show you just how pathetic you really are. My Card"

The man then handed to Kaiba a business card. He then approached Yugi and gave him a business card as well.

"You can come as well. I and my associates have some things you might enjoy seeing." 

Once he had done this, the man turned around and proceeded to leave the arena. Kaiba became enraged at the thought of some upstart challenging him to a duel.

"Do you know who you are messing with mister? I am Seto Kaiba! I am the World Champion. Who do you think you are to dare challenge me to a duel!!?"

The mystery man stopped, but he remained silent.

Kaiba shouted again at the man "Who are you? Answer Me!!!!!"

The man then turned his head slightly and said one word in response: "Horus."

He then continued on his way out of the arena. At this point Kaiba was too furious to even think about his victory. All he wanted to do was to find this man named Horus and defeat him and silence him for good.

Kaiba did not bother to look at the card, but Yugi did. He showed it to the gang. It seemed ordinary enough. It showed three men standing next to each other; Horus appeared in the center and two others at his sides. In the background was a Celtic cross. When the card got around to Tea, her eyes glazed over with shock. She looked as though she had seen a ghost. Her eyes remained transfixed on the words beneath the three men.

"The Saints"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Revelations

After the award ceremony was over, Yugi, Joey, Tristan and Tea all returned to the preparation room in the backstage area. It was an area lined with couches, tables, chairs, and TV monitors so other contestants who were either eliminated or waiting for their next match could sit back, relax and watch the tournament. Tea had been looking very disturbed since she saw the business card. She sat down on a couch and pulled it out again. Once again her eyes fixed on the words "The Saints."

"Hey, Tea what's wrong?" Joey said to her.

"Yeah, what is it?" Yugi added.

Tea finally looked up and addressed the gang.

"This card, I recognize it. I recognize that name. 'The Saints.' Guys this is huge!"

Tristan's interest was picking up "You mean you know that guy Horus."

Tea sighed; she then began to explain to her friends about Horus and The Saints.

"I don't know all the details, but I've heard about these three guys who call themselves 'The Saints.' That guy Horus is the most well-known member of the group. They are expert duelists who treat Duel Monsters as a discipline, kind of like martial arts of some kind. They like to create decks using unusual cards so that no one knows how to defeat them."

"So are these Saint guys' creeps or something?" Joey interrupted

Tea continued "No, they aren't. Actually they enjoy dueling with honor above all else. They also like to help out anyone who wished to become a good duelist, and protect those who are pushed around. Hence their name 'The Saints.'

"Hmmmmmmm, so who are they then?" Yugi wondered?

"Well no one knows who they really are" Tea began. "They remain very secretive about their existence. There are three of them. The only names anyone knows for them are Horus, Maximus, and Shinobi. They only come out from time to time to issue challenges to champions like you and Kaiba. They usually give that same talk about, 'You call yourself a champion, well play me and let's see how good you really are." I've heard stories about them making even former World Champions break down and cry. Horus seems to appear more often than the other two but where Horus is, Maximus and Shinobi are never far behind."

"Is there anything else Tea?" Joey asked.

"That's about all I know about these guys" Tea replied.

"Well then, it looks like Kaiba and I have been issued that challenge of The Saints." Yugi said. "I don't know about him, but I plan to go to this place Game Sanctuary tomorrow and face Horus one-on-one.

"Well I'm coming with ya Yug! For a duel like this you'll need all the support you can get." Joey proclaimed

"I'm with you all the way." Tristan said

"Me too!" Tea said.

And with that the four companions slapped each other high fives and proceeded to the arena exit.

The next day, Seto Kaiba attended a press conference about the World Championships. As expected the reporters were more interested in Horus than in Kaiba's victory

"Mr. Kaiba are you going to face Horus?" one reporter asked.

"I am the new World Champion, and I am not going to let some upstart in a trench coat and sunglasses ruin my victory. Yes! I am going to duel Horus. And I will beat him like the puppy dog he is. Nobody disrespects me, NOBODY!!!! This interview is over!!"

Kaiba began to get up from the table he was seated at. All of a sudden there was a click and everything went black. Then a voice that sounded like Horus began to speak.

"Kaiba, Kaiba, Kaiba, This is a P-Coat, not a trench coat! Get it right."

Horus had been watching the conference on a television from Game Sanctuary. When everything went black, he had just turned it off. Just then Maximus and Shinobi walked up to the front desk where Horus was sitting on a stool near a cash register watching TV. Maximus was a short thin man with glasses on. He was dressed in black jogging pants with a long-sleeved blue sweatshirt on. Overtop of the sweatshirt he had a black T-shirt on. He had brown hair and brown eyes and his skin was clear colored. Shinobi was much taller than Maximus, about a foot taller to be exact. He had silver hair and eyes that looked gray like steel when you looked deep enough into them, otherwise they just looked hazel. He wore a black T-shirt with jeans. His skin had yellow tones; one looking at him would think he was at least part Japanese.

"The preparations are complete. Now all we have to do is wait for them to arrive," Maximus said.

"Excellent!!!" Horus replied. "I think this will be our biggest humbling yet, Seto Kaiba, the so-called World Champion, defeated as he had never been before. If this doesn't shut him up then nothing will."

Shinobi looked at his wristwatch, and then looked over at Horus

"Well its 6:30, they should be here within the next 30 minutes. You know, watch Seto bring his little cheerleader brother here today. Watch him be even more traumatized that Seto is. After all the little brat is like a blind little sheep 'Bahh-Bahh' and Seto is his Shepherd."

"Shinobi," Maximus, began "That's just wrong. That's cruel, that's vile, and oh I love it!!"

"Yes" Horus said while nodding his head in approval. "All right, I'm going to head downstairs, when they get here, bring them down."

"You got it" Shinobi replied.

Horus then got off his stool, and proceeded for a large black door. He pulled out a key from his pocket, inserted it into the lock, turned the key and pulled open the door and disappeared into the darkness within locking the door behind him.

No long after that a long black limousine pulled up to the front doors of Game Sanctuary. When it had stopped the rear door opened and out stepped Seto and Mokuba Kaiba. Seto had all black like he normally does with his white Kaiba Corp. Jacket with the tails that floated above the ground as if it defied gravity. Mokuba had on plain red shirt, with a brown leather jacket and a pair of khaki pants.

"Keep the motor running, this won't take long." Kaiba told the driver.

He and Mokuba walked up the front stairway towards the doors. Now Game Sanctuary was a small red brick church that had been closed down some time ago and converted into a game shop. The main counter and cash register were located right in the front lobby near the front doors. The pews were ripped up and replaced with rows of games and collectables. In the back where the altar had once been were rows of tables lined with chairs for game play of all sorts. Most noticeable wee the large signs hung in front near the main counter, and in the back in the game area that said in big, bold letters "NO PLAYING FOR CARDS!!!!" The Sacristy where the priests waited and prepared prior to Mass had been converted into an employee only area.

As the Kaiba brothers walked up to the front door, another car pulled up next to the limousine. This was not a limo but rather a blue sedan. Out of the car stepped, Yugi, Joey, Tea and Tristan. Joey had driven the car. He wore jeans, with his white T-shirt with gray stripe across the torso. Tea wore a light blue button-down shirt with black shorts down to about her thighs. She was also wearing long white stockings and the shoes she normally wears to school. Tristan had on a pair of black dress pants and a white T-shirt. Yugi was wearing a sleeveless black shirt and his blue dress pants.

"See guys I told you I could find the place," Joey said to everyone

"Well it does help to have one of these things handy" Tea retorted holding up a map in Joey's face. "Remember, I was the one who knew about this place."

"OK guys, enough! Let's go, Kaiba's already here so come on," Yugi shouted.

The four companions went up to the front doors themselves. The Kaiba brothers entered the building and were greeted by Shinobi.

"Welcome, I am Shinobi. Today is a day neither of you will soon forget, for…"

Seto interrupted "Save it! Where is Horus?"

"Relax. He's downstairs waiting for you, follow me." Shinobi answered

"Good. The sooner I duel Horus, the sooner I can beat him and get on with my life." The arrogant as always Seto said."

Shinobi led Seto and Mokuba to the black door that Horus entered into earlier. As he was about to unlock it with his key, Yugi and his friends entered the building as well.

"Well, I see you geeks couldn't resist coming to see the World Champion defeat his first challenger." Came Seto's greeting. "I hate to disappoint you Yugi but when I get done with this Horus character, there won't be enough left of him for you to mop up. So just go home now."

Yugi and his friends were greeted at the door by Maximus.

"Welcome to Game Sanctuary, I am Maximus, one it's keepers. The man standing over by the Kaiba brothers is my associate Shinobi. We have been waiting for you Yugi Moto. And you brought your friends as well. Well they are certainly welcome with you, so enter. Horus is downstairs waiting, but he said he wants to face Mr. Kaiba first. All of you are free to watch the duel if you'd wish.

"Sure, I'd like to see if Horus is as good as he claims." Yugi said.

"Very well. Shinobi, are we all set?" Maximus asked.

"We're ready to go, just lock the front doors and we'll go down."

Maximus pulled out a small key and placed it into the lock on the front door. He turned his key and pulled firmly on the door to make sure it was locked. When he confirmed the door was locked he turned and nodded and Shinobi proceeded to place his key into the lock of the black door and turn it. The door opened and a rush of cool air greeted everyone. Tea and Mokuba began to shiver slightly. Everyone then proceeded down a flight of stairs into the basement of the Church. The sight they saw shocked them. There was a new state of the art dueling platform, large public address speakers, cameras, computers, and seats along the sides for spectators. As the group approached, they could see Horus standing at his place on the dueling platform. When he looked out at the approaching group he quickly descended the platform and walked over to greet the Kaiba brothers.

"What's going on, Seto??"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: From Champ to Chump

Horus walked up to Seto and Mokuba and attempted to shake hands with them, but they both refused the gesture.

"What?" Horus asked. "You don't even want to shake hands. Now that's just rude you realize that right."

"I've already had enough of you Horus and I've only spoken to you twice in my life." Seto said, "I just want to get this little duel over with so I can get on with my life."

"Suit yourself; let's get this show on the road then." Horus said.

He then proceeded to remove the P-Coat he wore and revealed an elbow-length sleeve Olive green shirt on. He wore a leather gauntlet on his right wrist. He then removed his sunglasses to reveal his eyes. When Seto looked him in the eyes, Horus's eyes glowed red as if they were ablaze with fire. His hair a dull red color as well and slicked back so his entire forehead was visible.

"Take your position Seto." Horus said as he pulled out a small box from his jeans pocket.

The box was made of gold plastic with a Velcro top. He opened the lid and pulled out a deck of cards. The cards were encased in sleeves that on one side had a picture of a close up of a dragon's eye. He then held the deck in his hand and spread out the cards so Seto could see the eye of the dragon staring back at him.

"Today you will see a dragon mightier than even your blue-eyes." Horus proclaimed

"Yeah right, my brother's the World Champ!! He can beat anyone, even you!!" Mokuba said.

As he finished saying this, he could hear a voice in his head that sounded like Shinobi.

"So your brother can beat anyone you say. Can you back that up? Remember, he's never seen anything like us." The voice said.

Maximus saw Shinobi looking at Mokuba intensely, walked over and whispered into Shinobi's ear. "Did you do what I think you did?"

"No! You know I wouldn't do that!!" Shinobi whispered in response.

Maximus only chuckled in response. Mokuba, startled from the voice in his head, decided to take a seat and watch the duel. He then heard the same voice again calling out to him inside his head.

"Would I Mokuba! Mwahahaha!!!" the voice said before fading out.

Yugi, Tea, Tristan and Joey all did the same. Meanwhile Seto and Horus climbed up opposite sides of the dueling platform and took their respective places.

"Let's Duel!" Seto barked out.

"And duel we shall" Horus said in his typical non-chalant style.

The holographic projectors on both sides of the field sprung out and activated and a spotlight overtop of the platform turned on while the background lights dimmed. All attention was now on the platform.

"I should probably tell you now." Horus started "Here at Game Sanctuary we play Duel Monsters a bit differently that the way you are used to. All of the main rules are still going to be in place, but instead of the standard 4000 Life Points we are going to be playing with 8000."

"Fine by me. It will give me more time to beat some sense into your thick head." Seto arrogantly proclaimed.

Horus just chuckled. The life point counters for both players were set to 8000.

"I'll start things off if you don't mind." Horus said.

He drew the standard 5 cards and when he drew his card for his turn he picked up the card, tossed it into the air and caught it on the way down.

"Get ready because here it comes. I summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level 4 in Attack Mode."

Horus placed the card on the board causing the projectors to render a large version of it on the field. Out of the picture on the card emerged the dragon. It did not look very menacing or even very strong to everyone watching. In fact it looked more like a hawk than a dragon.

Kaiba chuckled "That's your all powerful Dragon???!!!! It looks more like a little birdie than a dragon and it only has 1600 Attack points.

"There you go again Seto" Horus retorted "All about the power with you. You'll see though. This is only phase one!"

"Enough of this! Now I'll Summon Spear Dragon to the field." Kaiba said. He placed his card down and his own dragon emerged. "Spear Dragon, attack with Cyclone Blast!!!"

Kaiba's Dragon opened its mouth and fired a ball of wind at Horus's dragon. The ball of wind enveloped Horus's dragon and shattered it to pieces which quickly dissipated as the projectors registered the card was destroyed. Horus's life points also dropped to 7700 as a result of the attack. Seto's Spear Dragon then switched to defensive position after the attack.

"All right Bro!! Way to take out his dragon!!" Mokuba cheered from the stands.

Yugi wasn't so confident in Kaiba's victory.

"I wouldn't be bragging right now Mokuba, this duel has only begun and from the looks of things I'd say this Horus person won't go down without a fight."

"Cork it Yugi!" Seto shouted from the platform. "Haven't you had enough embarrassment for one lifetime? You've already been proven to be nothing compared to me. Do you honestly think this Horus chump will be any different?"

Horus looked as confident as he always was, despite the defeat of his dragon.

"Nice shot, I'll give you credit for drawing first blood" he said, "but you have no idea what you're in for."

"I'll be prepared" Seto responded "I'll end my turn by placing one card face down on the field. Go ahead and draw." Horus began to draw his card and Seto shouted "Reveal face down card Drop-Off!!! Discard your card to the graveyard"

Horus looked a bit upset at this play "You made me discard my Exiled Force. You stuck up jerk!!! You'll pay for that." He said

"Really, How??? I don't see any monsters on your side of the field. Maybe you don't have what it takes to beat a World Champion." Seto shouted to his opponent.

Horus chuckled even louder than before.

"Oh Seto, you're making this fun!!" He said. "I'll start by summoning Pitch-Black Warwolf in attack mode." There emerged on Horus's side of the field a wolf type monster with black fur, and a long spear for a weapon. His Attack strength was shown at 1600, the same the Level 4 Horus dragon. "Next up I'll give up 800 life points to use Premature Burial and revive my dragon." As Horus's life points decreased to 6900 a beam of light emerged on Horus's field and the floor quaked and broke open and the Level 4 Horus dragon emerged from beneath as though rising from the grave.  
"Now Horus, Attack!!" Horus shouted, immediately Horus Level 4 opened his beak and released a stream of fireballs at Kaiba's Spear Dragon. Kaiba's dragon was destroyed immediately and shattered into pieces. "Go Warwolf, Impaling Thrust attack!!!" Horus's wolf leaped forward towards Seto and thrust his spear at him registering a direct attack on Seto's life points dropping them down to 6400. 

As Horus's wolf returned to its position following the attack, a beam of light encircled Horus the Black Flame Dragon. The Dragon screeched and appeared to grow.

"What's happening?" Tea shouted from the stands

Horus explained the light around his dragon. "Since my dragon destroyed one of Seto's monsters it is now allowed to grow stronger. So say good-bye to Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level 4, and hello to Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level 6!!!!"

The beam of light encircling the dragon faded away, and when it had done so, Horus the Black Flame Dragon had grown. It now was much larger and fiercer looking. When it spread its wings and screamed the holographic projectors on the arena began to flicker wildly. After several seconds they flickered and shut off. Strangely all of the monsters and cards on the field remained as they were as if nothing had happened.

"Relax; it does that every time Level 6 comes out." Horus said. "So Seto, now I've got an even stronger dragon to play with. And his attack strength is 2300 so you might want to keep that in mind. I'll now set one card face down on the field and say your turn."

"My Move!!" Seto shouted he still believed that he would turn the duel around and defeat Horus. "I'll set down two cards and end my turn." He said

Meanwhile in the stands, Yugi and his friends were still in shock at the sight of Horus's dragon.

"So that dragon can grow stronger every time it destroys one of Kaiba's monsters?" Joey asked.

"Yes, and if that's it's Level 6 form I really don't want to know what will happen if that destroys a monster." Tea said

"Kaiba's in a bad spot right now. He has no monsters on the field and Horus has that dragon to contend with." Yugi said "I have a feeling that Kaiba really is going to be defeated horribly."

Horus began his turn "Let's continue shall we??" he said "I shall draw…."

"And as you do so I'll activate Thunder of Ruler" Seto interrupted "Looks like you won't be attacking this turn now thanks to my trap."

Horus just shrugged "OK!!" he said "I'll just Summon to the field Element Saurus in Attack mode. And let you go ahead."

Even with out the projectors the monster materialized on the field as if they were there. It too screamed loudly and fiercely.

"Now because I have a creature of Fire my dinosaur gains 500 attack points giving it a total of 2000." Horus told his opponent

"Would you cork it?" Seto retorted "I know what Element Saurus does; I am the World Champion you realize. And I think it's time to teach you that no one messes with me and the power in my deck. Your dragon still looks like a little birdie and he about to get even smaller."

"Well I think I know what you're going to do this turn." Horus said  
"Good, cause here it comes." Seto replied "I draw." As he looked at his card he developed that same grin that he had when he defeated Yugi at the World Championships. "Well" Seto began "It looks like it's going to be even worse than you expected this turn. I activate, Autonomous Action Unit. By giving up 1500 Life points I can revive any monster from YOUR graveyard. And I choose Exiled Force." Seto's life points dropped down to 4900 and the group of warriors known as the Exiled Force emerged from underneath the floor just as Horus had done earlier with Premature Burial. Only this time the monster was under Seto's control. Now I activate Exiled Forces Special Ability, by sacrificing it I can destroy one of your monsters. And I choose your Dragon. Go Exiled Force; destroy Horus the Black Flame Dragon!!" One by one each member of the Exiled Force leapt forward towards Horus the Black Flame Dragon and grabbed on to him tightly. At this Horus screamed out "No one messes with my dragon. Activate Trap Card: Shift. This will allow me to choose another of my monsters to destroy in place of my Dragon. I'll give up my Warwolf. Sorry puppy, although you're cool and all it's a necessary sacrifice."

As Horus's trap activated Horus the Black Flame Dragon and Pitch Black Warwolf switched places with each other so that the Exiled Force now held onto the wolf and not the dragon. Exiled Force finally squeezed hard enough that it destroyed itself and Horus's wolf together.

"And that was only the beginning of your troubles." Seto barked out "Now I summon La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp to the field." A green cloud appeared on the field. Soon it developed into the head and torso of a man with large muscles and a long handlebar mustache. Seto then continued "Now my Genie only has 1800 attack points so I need to do something about your dragon. And that's what my face down card is for. Go Shrink!! Reduce his dragon's attack power in half!!!"

There appeared a glow around Horus's Dragon as the Magic Card took effect on it. But Horus began to screech wildly and fiercely as it attempted to resist the power of Shrink.

Horus shouted at his dragon "Fight!!!! Fight it off!!!!"

Seto ordered La Jinn to attack Horus's dragon. As the Genie approached Horus's dragon and proceeded to throw a punch the glow around the dragon faded away and the punch seemed to not even phase the great dragon.

"Horus, counterattack. Crimson Dusk!" Shouted Horus form his platform.

At once the dragon rose up and began to beat his large wings repeatedly until what appeared to be a cyclone made of dust was swirling around Seto's Genie. Once the storm was large enough the dragon released a stream of fire upon it, lighting the dust on fire and reducing the Genie trapped within the inferno to ashes and causing Seto to lose another 500 life points leaving him with 4400.

Seto could not believe what had just happened. "What's going on here!!!!? Your Dragon should be destroyed. How did you do that you cheater!!" he screamed

"Yeah, how did he do that?" Tristan said from the stands

Horus just smiled as the beam of light once again encircled his dragon. "Seto, Seto, Seto. You really disappoint me. I would have imagined that as the World Champion you of all people would have known that at its Level 6 form Horus the Black Flame Dragon has a special ability that makes him immune to all magic. And since he destroyed a monster in battle again, you know what that means!!!"

Mokuba could no longer sit back and watch his brother get beaten. He got up and ran to the platform

"Big Brother!!! I'm going to cheer you on from right here." He shouted from just below Seto's platform. But Seto was too distraught by the sight of Horus's Dragon growing again to worry about his brother's cheers. Seto knew that he was now in deep trouble and needed to do something quickly to stop it.

"Arggggggggggggh" Seto said growing frustrated "Fine I'll activate Pot of Greed and draw two more cards. Hmmmmmmm interesting. I'll set down these two cards face down and end my turn."

Horus smiled and began to laugh manically "I told you that you would see a dragon mightier than the Blue-Eyes and here it comes. Behold the ultimate form of Horus the Black Flame Dragon. I give you Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level 8!"

At this the beam of light once again faded and the dragon had grown ever larger. It was easily 20 to 30 feet tall and had a wingspan as wide and the entire dueling platform. As the dragon roared with life. Everyone covered up his or her ears except for The Saints.

"Wow!!" Tea exclaimed. "So that's Horus's ultimate form."

"I'm sure it has some kind of power that will blow Kaiba away." Joey said

Horus began his turn by once again flipping his card into the air and catching it on the way down. But Seto once again interrupted. "I'll play another Thunder of Ruler. Looks like I just keep escaping your grasp Horus. You may have a powerful monster out there, but you just can't do much to hurt me with it can you."

"I honestly don't care about power Seto." Horus retorted. "You know with all your talk about power it's kind of funny that I've been curb-smacking you all duel long. Where's the Seto Kaiba I know? Where's the guy who stopped at nothing to prove that he was the best in the world? Realize you cannot hide behind your traps forever."

"I'm just biding my time." Seto said. "It's all part of my strategy"

"I know your strategy inside and out Seto." Horus said "All you do is summon out powerful monsters and do whatever it takes to keep your opponents from summoning out anything that can stop it. While that's not a bad plan in itself, it's all you do and it's too easy to predict. I've got more combos and tactics than you can imagine. Only trouble is I can't show them all to you in this duel. So go ahead and show me what you've got."

"I will" exclaimed Seto. "Now I'll activate my face down card Call of the Haunted. This will allow me to revive my La Jinn from the graveyard." There appeared on the field a gravestone, and a dark mist began to cover it. Slowly the green smoke of La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp emerged from out of the mist as if it had risen from the grave. Once the Genie assumed its form on the field, the gravestone disappeared. Seto then continued "Next I'll sacrifice him in order to summon Byser Shock." As Seto's Genie vanished in its place stood a large machine made of magnets. Its Attack Strength was shown only to be 800, which paled in comparison to the 3000 that Horus Level 8 possessed or even the 2000 that Element Saurus had. "Now Byser Shock's special ability returns my face down card to my hand, but that's fine. I'll just replace it facedown and activate the Magic Card Mind Control and take control of your dragon.

As the magic of Mind Control began making its way towards Horus Level 8, Horus shouted out from his platform "Activate Red Flames of Negativity" At once Horus Level 8's eyes glowed a bright red and fired beams of fire from them and destroyed the beams of Mind Control about half way across the arena. Once again everyone became shocked at the power of Horus.

"Did you guys see that?" Exclaimed Yugi "His dragon stopped Kaiba's magic card!"

"This guy really has got Kaiba right where he wants him." Joey said

Seto was furious. "What was that!!" he screamed

"Oh that." Horus said "Why that is the special ability of Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level 8. At this, his ultimate form, my dragon has the ability to negate and destroy any magic card I desire simply by saying so. So basically I can play magic and you cannot. It sucks doesn't it??" 

"Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhh" Seto responded "You won't be laughing for much longer." Just then Seto became blinded by bright light. As he shielded himself from the light he began to hear voices in his head. They were laughing. Shortly after the laughing began the light disappeared and Seto had a vision. He was walking down a street and everyone was pointing and laughing at him. This greatly disturbed and angered him even more.   
"I will not have people laughing at me!!!" he shouted.

Over by the nearby computer monitor stations, Maximus watched Seto's reaction to the vision. He began to laugh. Shinobi tapped his shoulder

"Why did you do that??" Shinobi asked

"Aww come on, I just wanted to have some fun with this too." Maximus answered. 

Meanwhile the duel continued "Fine, let's see what you can do. It's your turn." Seto said. Horus drew his card. Seto did not interrupt this time, nor did he activate any cards. He just stood there grinning. Horus just looked at Seto with his usual look of confidence and proceeded. "Time to put you out of your misery. You've suffered long enough. I'll have Element Saurus attack your Byser Shock."

As Horus's dinosaur lunged forward to attack Seto sprung into action. "You fool!! Now I'm going to teach you why I am the best duelist in the world. I activate my Crush Card Virus!!! This will destroy every strong monster on your field, then in your hand, and finally in your deck!! The time has come to turn this duel around and show you that my skill is far superior to everyone else's. Especially yours Horus."

Seto's card activated and a pink cloud began coating both Element Saurus and Horus the Black Flame Dragon. Seto began to laugh manically just as Horus had done when the level 8 dragon emerged.

"Yeah!! Way to go bro! I knew you'd pull out a way to win" Mokuba shouted in sheer jubilation.

He felt that his brother was finally about to take control of this game.

"Uh-Oh guys. Kaiba's using that Crush Card." Tea said.

"This might be just what he needed to turn this around." Tristan said

Just as the cloud and completely enveloped both of Horus's monsters. There emerged on Horus's side of the field a burst of energy in the form of a sphere. This energy sphere floated out onto the field and began to absorb the Virus cloud away from Horus's monsters onto itself. The Sphere then exploded and Horus felt a shock run down his body. He gritted his teeth in pain and clutched his side for a few moments. His life points decreased from 6900 to 5400. Meanwhile Element Saurus, now free from the virus resumed its attack on Byser Shock. Element Saurus ripped its teeth into the metal frame of Seto's monster and tore it to pieces dropping Seto's life points by 1200 leaving him with 3200 left.

"NO!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! This can't be happening!!!" Seto screamed "What was that trick you pulled Horus????!!!!!"

"That trick is one of my favorites." Horus stated. "It's a Quick-Play Magic Card called My Body as a Shield. By giving up 1500 of my life points I can negate and destroy any card my opponent activates that has the effect of destroying one or more monsters on the field. Namely you're Crush Card. Now Horus!!!!!! ATTACK!!!!"

The dragon began to beat its massive wings and started to fly off of the platform. When it was a good 10 feet off the ground it held its wings unfurled and reared its head back.

Horus screamed "Black-Heart Fire Blast!!!" At this command Horus's dragon unleashed a massive burst of fire as black as night directly at Seto. The blast connected and Seto was sent reeling. He was knocked right off his feet and onto his back. He lost 3000 life points leaving him with only 200 left. The dragon then beat its wings and returned gently to the arena.

"Hey Seto, how was that??" Horus half jokingly asked his opponent. "Trouble is I can't finish you this turn, but don't worry. It'll all be over next turn."  
Seto had one last chance to find a way to destroy Horus's dragon. He slowly climbed to his feet and drew his card, his face glistened with hope. It was Cyber Jar.  
"It's not over yet." The defiant World Champion proclaimed. "I'll place this monster face down in defense mode and end my turn."

Horus drew his own card. He looked over at Seto Kaiba, the World Duel Monster Champion and said "Dude, I feel sorry for you. I summon Mystic Swordsman Level 2 in attack mode." The Mystic Swordsman was a young boy with purple armor and a sword. "Now I'll have my swordsman attack your facedown card. And since its face down in defense mode my swordsman's special ability kicks in, destroying your monster instantly without ever flipping it face up."

Mystic Swordsman ran up to Seto's monster card and with his free hand picked it up. He then proceeded to rapidly slash away with his sword until the card was reduced to shreds. At this Seto could hide his feelings no longer. His face was full of absolute fear. He knew that he was beaten and knew that Horus made good on his promise to show him what a true champion was capable of. Seto looked down at his deck and a single tear ran down his cheek. After about 10 seconds of silence he finally spoke up.

"Enough!! That's enough, you win!! You Win Horus!! I surrender!!! "Seto said rather softly. Placing his hand on top of his deck. Seto's life points dropped to zero and the duel ended.

Amazingly the hologram projectors turned back on and all of the monsters, including Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level 8 disappeared back into their respective cards. Horus scooped up his deck and placed it back into the gold box and returned the gold box to his jeans pocket. He then descended the platform and joined Maximus and Shinobi over by the computers.

"Good show as always Horus." Maximus said

"Aye, thank you my good man!" Horus responded "Hey Shinobi, how did we do?"

Shinobi looked over at the computer monitor for a moment, and then looked back at Horus. "According to the reports we got about 45 million." Shinobi then turned and saw Seto and Mokuba sitting together at the base of the dueling platform. Aww isn't that cute. The Kaiba brothers are being all cuddly with each other. Let's go traumatize them some more."

Meanwhile Yugi, Joey, Tea and Tristan were all speechless. They had just seen Seto Kaiba humiliated and driven to concede by a man who beat him in a Duel Monsters duel.

"See that guys, just like I said: They can make even World Champions cringe." Tea said

"I almost feel bad for Kaiba. I always wanted him to lose, but I never though I'd see someone come along and make him look this bad." Tristan said

"Don't pity that stuck up jerk." Joey said "He got exactly what he deserved. A whooping he won't soon forget."

The Saints walked over to Seto and Mokuba. Horus stood in the middle and Shinobi and Maximus were at his sides. The three stopped about three feet away from the brothers and looked down upon them scornfully.

"Buzz off Mokuba." Shinobi barked. Mokuba took several steps away Then Horus spoke

"Now you see Seto Kaiba. All of your so-called power amounted to absolutely nothing. All of your speeches about your superiority have failed you. You have just been beaten like a redheaded stepchild who took the last biscuit on Thanksgiving. Now I am going to allow you to keep your title of "World Champion" but this duel will haunt you forever, as a reminder that you can call yourself the best all you want. But there will always be someone out there that is better than you. Today I was that someone. If ever you desire a rematch with us, feel free to return anytime. But until you change your attitude and your style, you can expect the same results over and over."

Maximus spoke up "May I break the news to him?"

"Sure. He ought to know just how humiliated he really was today." Horus said

"And as a final note before you boys go on your not-so merry way." Maximus began "Using the magic of those computers over there we were able to broadcast this duel on Satellite Television. About 45 Million people just watched the great Seto Kaiba get beaten like never before. And tomorrow they'll all be laughing at you. Just like before."

Seto's eyes glowed with rage. "You sick twisted freaks!!! I'll make all of you pay for this!!"

He lunged at Horus but Horus raised his arm and showed Seto the leather Gauntlet on his wrist. At once Seto froze in mid-jump and began to feel something take over his body. It was as if Horus was controlling his movements. He could feel himself lose control of his body. He began to button up his jacket and tuck the tail through his crotch. He then grabbed Mokuba and his cards and headed for the exit. His footsteps could be heard all the way up the stairs. Maximus followed the Kaiba brothers up the stairs to the front doors as he had the key and needed to unlock the door for them to leave.

About a minute later Maximus returned to the basement and joined the rest of the crowd.

"Well the Kaibas have left the building." He reported. "And Seto certainly left with his tail between his legs I might add."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Life of Horus

"Who are you, and what do you want from us??" Yugi asked Horus.

Horus stepped forward then he began to address everyone.

"We brought you here because we could use your assistance dealing with the forces of evil. We, The Saints have been fighting hard to protect the honor of this game and to stop those who use it for evil purposes."

"Evil purposes??" Yugi asked. 'What do you mean by this?"

Horus continued his tale.

"I might as well explain who I am and what I do. As you probably guessed, my name is not Horus. My real name is Mathias Blackheart. I am an American by blood, but some time ago I left home and moved to Egypt of all places. I was always intrigued by the pyramids and by the ancient battles that the Pharaohs fought to protect Egypt from harm. It was in this fascination that I ran into The Eternal Hunters."

'Eternal Hunters, this reminds me of those Rare Hunter creeps." Joey said

"You're not that far off the path with that." Horus answered. "The Eternal Hunters have been in existence since ancient times. They were a secret sect that kept the stories of The Shadow Games alive. They also played Duel Monsters. In fact they were the ones who created the first Duel Monsters cards in later centuries as they spread the game across the Ancient world. They reached as far as present day Ireland and I believe that they reached as far East as China. About 1,000 years ago, they disappeared mysteriously, but once Pegasus revived Duel Monsters they returned. Anyway, I was introduced to the leader of The Eternal Hunters, a man named Set, after the mythological brother of Ra. Set was the man who showed me the role that Duel Monsters played in the ancient past, and showed me how to play the game. I started off playing with just raw power, not altogether different from the way Kaiba plays his deck. I was defeating my opponents and making them quiver with fear at my sight, but something just did not seem right. It felt that every victory I achieved was hollow in some way. I was beginning to stand out from the rest of the group because of this. Everyone else did things differently. They never had any doubts about their skills; despite the fact that many of them ran similar, if not identical decks that do not take much skill to play with. But then one day, all of that changed. I was in a village along the Nile one day, challenging the village elders to duels. After I had beaten them I told them that their feeble skills were no match for my power. And that's when I heard a voice say to me, "If all you worry about is power, you'll never achieve true satisfaction in victory." I turned around and I saw a robed woman standing in the chamber. "Well, what do we have here?" I asked "And how would you know about power? You don't look very menacing to me, how about we duel and settle this matter." I said

"I will duel you Mathias, but not here. Meet me at the banks of the Nile tonight at midnight." She responded. I accepted and told her I'd be there. 

As I was preparing to leave, Set approached me and offered his services to help me win.  
"This offer is truly appreciated, but I would greatly prefer to face this one alone. She issued a challenge to me and I do not intend to back down. This is my battle Set; please let me fight it on my own. Set's parting words to me were: "Very well then. Go forth Mathias, and bring us victory." I mounted my trusty steed and rode out to the riverbanks where this woman told me to go. After about 10 miles I came across a small tent along the river. She was standing in front of it with are arms folder across her chest as if she had been waiting for me.

"It is my hope that this will serve as an eye opener for you Mathias." She said to me.

We then proceeded into the tent where she had a table set up for a duel. I never even saw her coming. Before I knew what had happened I was defeated. She was using something she called "The Temple Deck" I honestly don't know the logic behind it to this very day, but all of the monsters in the deck were either monks, priests or had some kind of mystical flavor to them. What made the deck even scarier was the fact that it did not have very many powerful creatures in it.

Tea seemed rather intrigued at this. She asked, "Was that the 'Eye opener' this woman spoke to you about?"

"As it turned out it was." was Horus's reply. I played 10 duels against her. In those 10 duels she won all 10 of them in convincing fashion. When it was over I asked her who she was and why she did this to me.

"My name is Elena. I summoned you here this night because I have seen your duels and noticed your feelings of hollow victory. I can help you with that." 

"How did you know that?? How did you know of my troubles?" I asked her

"I have used my power to look into your heart and I saw the emptiness within. If you allow me to, I can help you overcome it and allow you to regain a passion for this game."

I spent the next 2 days with Elena and she taught me that my weakness was a reliance on power. She knew that there was more to the game than just powerful monsters. Strategy, speed, and a bond with your cards also played a part in playing the game.

"I'd say that the heart of the cards works for more than just me then." Yugi said. "But why couldn't Set teach you this?"

"Yugi, sometimes you just need a woman to tell you certain things." Tea answered back.

She was becoming more and more fascinated with this story as Horus went on. Yugi gave Tea a slightly displeased look.

Horus continued. "Probably the reason why Set didn't teach me this is because he never knew about it himself. Remember he along with almost all of his followers ran nearly identical decks. Have you ever heard of a Chaos Deck??"

"Yeah, it makes use of creatures of light and darkness in order to summon out the Black Luster Soldier: Envoy of the Beginning. I hear those decks are very powerful." Yugi said.

"It's just finding a Black Luster Soldier is extremely difficult because it's so rare."

"Powerful, cheap, and all too common." Horus responded. "The trouble with Chaos decks is that they are too commonly used among the Eternal Hunters and among other dueling teams. Not to mention that they can really tick a lot of people off because they can pull out a win even if they are getting beaten to a pulp because all you need to summon the soldier is one light and one dark monster in your graveyard.

But anyway, back to the story: With Elena's help I was able to build a deck that no one in any of the nearby villages or even my fellow hunters had ever dreamed was possible. I created what I called "The Highlander Deck" It was a deck that ran exactly one copy of every card in it, and they were designed to make sure that no one would recognize these cards so that no one would be prepared how to fight it. Sure enough I was getting a sense of true satisfaction out of my games. Sure I lost a few here and there but I learned from my defeats and grew stronger. I guess it felt better to use an original deck that I built myself rather than using the same mass-produced style that everyone around me used.  
Also I began to spend more and more time with Elena. She was serving as a better mentor to me than Set could have ever been. In fact I had fallen in love with Elena. It was as if she had helped me to unlock the potential inside my soul and bring life back to my game. I had never been happier."

"Hold on a minute." Joey interrupted "What happened to Elena? How come you two aren't together right now?"

"Good question" Horus answered. He gave a deep sigh of sorrow and proceeded with his tale. "One night, I was with Elena. We were in a nearby village giving help to some of the elders with their decks. Suddenly we heard the most horrifying of screams coming from outside. Elena and I ran to a window, when we looked out we saw a group of men wearing hooded robes similar to the Eternal Hunters robes marching through the square setting fire to several houses along the way. It was as if they had gone mad. Elena pulled me into a corner and pulled out a small wooden box.

"They've come for me." She said, "The Eternal Hunters are coming for me. They know what I have." She placed the box in my hands. "Take this. Keep it safe. Ride out of here as fast as you can. When you get far enough away, open the box."

I didn't understand what she was saying. "Elena, I'm not leaving you. I love you."

She insisted that I leave at once. "Mathias the contents of this box hold more power than you can imagine. If Set gets a hold of this he and the Eternal Hunters will rule the world forever. If you keep it from them, you can use it to defeat them. Trust in me Mathias. Leave me and save yourself."

Those were the last words I ever heard her speak to me. I did as she asked and rode out into the desert. As I traveled into the night I looked back and saw the entire village engulfed in flames. The smoke rose as high as I could see. I made my way out to a remote oasis about 100 miles from the Nile. By sunrise I had reached there so I decided to stop and rest. I pulled the box out of my backpack and opened it. Inside was a note written to Elena from of all people, Pegasus himself.

"Dear Elena,

I cannot keep these cards myself any longer. I have known and trusted you and your family for quite some time now. I am leaving them to you for safekeeping. Do not let Set find these. He will do anything to possess them and the magic they contain. It is my hope that one-day you find someone worthy enough to take these cards and use them to defeat Set and his band of Eternal Hunters. I do not know who this person is or will be. But I believe that you will know when you meet this person.

Good Luck,

Pegasus"

Underneath the letter were the cards. The set of Horus the Black Flame Dragon cards. Three Level 4 Dragons, two Level 6 Dragons, and one Level 8 Dragon. When I first touched them I felt s surge of energy flow through me, it was like something inside of me was burning with life. I didn't quite understand the significance at the time, so I did the only thing I could. I quickly left Egypt and returned to the United States and went to see Pegasus in person. Hopefully he would tell me what was so special about these cards. While in the airport in Cairo I saw a newspaper headline mentioning the attack on the village. It mentioned that rescue workers had recovered the body of an unknown woman dressed in priestess robes. I knew it was Elena and that she was gone.

"So what did Pegasus have to say?" Tea asked

"What's up with you Tea?" Tristan said. "I don't think I've ever seen you this interested in some story about Duel Monsters."

"I don't know I just find this story to be really good. It's almost as if I have something to do with it." came Tea's reply

Horus went on. "Pegasus told me the Horus cards held the power of life. If you recall Egyptian mythology, Horus was God of the skies, and protector of the Pharaohs. Since Horus was the son of Osiris and Isis he held the power to restore life just as Osiris held. Pegasus knew of this myth and hoped to use the power of Horus to revive his wife. This set of cards was the very first cards printed by Industrial Illusions. But the Eternal Hunters got wind that Pegasus was going to print such a set of cards. His original plan was to keep the Horus cards for himself and restore his wife to life with the magic he infused them with using the Millennium Eye. Before he could do that however Set and his followers attempted raids to try and steal the cards. Set wanted the power of life that the cards provided for himself and his followers so that nothing could ever defeat the Eternal Hunters. His attempts failed but eventually Pegasus realized that as long as he possessed the Horus cards he was in danger. He gave the cards to Elena for safe keeping because when he was investigating the pyramids for when he revived Duel Monsters Elena and her family served as guides for him. They helped him translate most to the Hieroglyphs on the walls. He knew that he could trust her so he gave them to her in hope that she would be able to use them to defeat Set. She could never figure out how to harness their power so she never used them. Elena must have seen in me that I held some power that would allow me to unlock Horus's power. That's why she gave them to me.

As I left Pegasus's office I made two vows. The first was that I would destroy Set and the Eternal Hunters for deceiving me into thinking they were good when in fact they were evil and for killing Elena. The second was that I would keep Elena's memory alive in me by passing on the knowledge of the game that she gave to me. I used my knowledge of cards plus the Horus Dragons and I created this deck. I knew that the Eternal Hunters would be looking for me so I chose to only show up at events where I knew they would be attending. Yes there are sects of the Eternal Hunters here in America that follow Set and all that he preaches. They've been running rampant though the Regional circuits in pursuit of victory and the spoils thereof."

"What do you mean by spoils?" Yugi asked

"By that I mean taking the rarest cards away from defeated opponents. Just like in Battle City. The Eternal Hunters do greatly enjoy forcing their opponents to wager rare and powerful cards in duels. I fortunately never engaged in this practice as a member, but I have been known to challenge Eternal Hunters to such "Ante Duels" it's the main reason why the three of us have managed to amass such cards for ourselves."

At this Joey was very puzzled. "But tell us how did you three meet and become 'The Saints?'

"Good Question." Horus said. "About 3 years ago I was at a regional tournament. I played people just for fun; I didn't enter because I didn't want to draw attention to myself. It turned out that Maximus and Shinobi were also at this tournament as well. They had met up not to long earlier and were reminiscing about the old days. After I got done beating some guy with a Warrior Deck, I made my way through the backstage area and discovered Maximus and Shinobi together talking. I joined in and we had a nice little reunion. That night we went out for pizza and decided that since we all shared common bonds in our pasts, and in the way we embrace creativity in the game we figured that we should join together."

"Past? You mean you three are old friends?" Tea asked

At this question Horus pulled Maximus and Shinobi over to his sides. He nodded and each of them reached into their shirts and they each pulled out pendants. At the end of these pendants was a small stone that glowed with a soft blue light. At this Joey became very scared.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh No Way!!!" He screamed. "It's that Orichalcos thing again!!! Why do you guys have those stones?? I thought you were good!"

The Saints looked at this and just laughed. "Relax," Horus said "These are not pieces of the Orichalcos Stone. That stone shone with green light, this is blue light. But anyway we might as well let you all in on something else." Horus began. "The three of us were friends as children. The three of us were pretty much inseparable; we always stuck together and looked after each other. Many years ago we each received a message to come at once to a monastery over in Ireland. When we arrived the monks presented us with these stones. They said that because of the bond we shared with each other that we had proven ourselves worthy to be carriers of pieces of The Philosopher's Stone. It is a magical stone forged from alchemy that provides its possessor with eternal youth. We each possess a fragment of the stone and as such each of us is blessed with eternal youth. Once we received these stones we were strongly encouraged to go separate ways so that we would be able to keep them safe. Once we got back to America, I moved to Egypt, Maximus and Shinobi each moved to separate parts of the country. We all still spoke to each other but we didn't see each other for many years."

"How many years?" Tristan asked. He was very shaken by this revelation, and began to wonder how old The Saints were. "Are you guys like older than even the Pharaoh?"

"Well, considering that we received these stones in 1919. It was about 85 years." Horus said, "In fact on that wall over there is a picture of us from just before we went to Ireland."

Everyone turned and faced one of the walls and there was a black and white picture of Horus, Shinobi and Maximus all standing together. They looked about the same now as they did in the picture except for a few years difference.

"Go ahead; look at the date on that thing." Horus said

Yugi walked forward and studied the picture closely. Sure enough in the bottom right corner was an imprinted date. October 26, 1919. He turned around and said "October 26, 1919"

"I know we've aged only a few years since that picture was taken," Horus said "but we are all over 100 years old. Shortly after our reunion, we pooled together some money and bought this old building. It used to be a church but it closed down and was going to be demolished. We bought it, renovated the place and called it Game Sanctuary. We thought it was fitting because we made it a haven for gamers of all sorts to come and relax and have a good time. The "No Ante Dueling" rule is our way of keeping the peaceful atmosphere of the place. We don't mind buying and selling in here but if we catch you anteing, we will throw you out of here. We also bought the old rectory next door and we use it as our home. We also use it as something of a safe house. We at times take in people who have no where else to go, due to some unfortunate circumstances and give them a place to live. We also help them find work in the area and we even train them how to be master duelists as we are."

"What's with that weird bracelet you wear Horus?" Tea asked

Horus smiled "I'm starting to like you. You're always asking good questions." He said. "Shortly after we opened up this place, we got a call from the Monastery asking us to come over. So we all boarded a plane and went back to Ireland. This time the monks told us a story. They told us that the Eternal Hunters were growing strong again, and were seeking power that I possessed, namely the dragons. They wanted the cards so that they could take over the world. They also told us that 1,000 years earlier the Eternal Hunters didn't just vanish. They were defeated by three virtuous men who challenged them to duels and defeated them because the three played in a style the Hunters were not prepared to fight against. They saw the three of us and decided that we should take up the fight against the Hunters this time. To symbolize our virtuous crusade we called ourselves "The Saints". To help us the monks gave us three magical items that were used to defeat the Hunters before. I was given this bracelet, The Millennium Gauntlet, which allows me the power of telekinesis. Maximus was given his glasses. The Millennium Lenses. They afford him the power to project mental images into people's heads.

"Say What??" Joey exclaimed, "What does that mean?"

"Allow me to explain." Maximus chimed in "Do you remember when Kaiba said he wasn't going to let anyone laugh at him like that?"

"Yeah" was Joey's response.

"Well" Maximus said "That is because I used my glasses to project an image into his head of him walking down a street and having everyone laughing and ridiculing him."

"I get it now. You can make people see what you want them to see." Joey said

"Exactly" Maximus responded

Horus went on: "Lastly Shinobi was given a Millennium Pendant. It affords him a combination of telekinesis and telepathy. He can do both abilities but his telekinesis is not as strong as mine because his item does two functions instead of just one."

"But I thought the Millennium Items were destroyed? How do you three each have one."? Yugi asked

"It is true that the seven Millennium Items from Egypt were destroyed, but these items were made in Ireland about 1,000 years ago by alchemists who aided the three virtuous men in their fight to stop The Eternal Hunters. And with that, I believe that is my story.

Tea's fascination just kept on growing with every word Horus said

"So this is what you guys do with yourselves?" she asked

Yugi seemed startled by Tea's fascination with Horus's story. It was almost as if he didn't like it.

"Yep, this is our life." Horus said. "The three of us earn an honest living as managers of this place. In order to keep our identities a secret, we always refer to each other by our real names when customers are in the place. I am Mathias Blackheart, or Matt for short. Maximus's real name is Daniel Clay, and Shinobi's real name is Sean Phoenix. Of course several of our customers have recognized us from our exploits with challenges so in order to protect ourselves we swear them to secrecy with a little help from Maximus. He just shows them a fiery image of them burning and in terrible pain in the pits of Hell. He then tells them that's what to expect if they reveal our identities. We just keep a low profile until we get wind that some of the Hunters are going to a certain tournament to try and wreak havoc. Then we go over and teach them a lesson or two. Or we come out of hiding to issue a challenge like to you and Kaiba. Ordinarily we hold our challenges in neutral arenas so that the Eternal Hunters don't find out where we are but this time we brought you here in hope that you would join us in fighting the Eternal Hunters. We could use someone like you and Joey."

"I'm in." Joey said. "You Saint guys work hard to perfect your Duel Monsters skills, and I don't want to see your hard work be for nothing. I'll help you guys.

Yugi wasn't as enthusiastic as Joey was, but he agreed to help nonetheless. "I'll do it too. You guys will need all the help you can get. But will I have to play with that 8000 life points as well?" He said

"Oh right!! I completely forgot to mention that." Horus said. "That 8000 life point thing is actually the part of the advanced rule set for the game. Not many people like to use it because it makes certain cards like Dark Hole, Raigeki and Harpy's Feather Duster illegal but we play it here and we love it. There are three rule sets for Duel Monsters, Traditional, Standard, and Advanced. Traditional Rules are the rules Duelist Kingdom was played under. Standard was the Battle City format and the current format for most play. Advanced Format works similar to Standard but with the following changes  
1. 8000 Life Points instead of 4000  
2. Monsters cannot be summoned in Face-Up defense mode unless by a card effect.  
3. Only Magic Cards designated "Quick-Play" by the lightning bolt symbol in the top-right corner can be played on your opponent's turn  
4. Fusion monsters can attack the turn they are summoned  
5. Certain cards are forbidden for use because they are too powerful. These cards include  
Raigeki  
Dark Hole  
Monster Reborn  
Magical Scientist  
Yata-Garasu  
Witch of the Black Forest  
Imperial Order  
Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of The End  
Fiber Jar  
Confiscation  
The Forceful Sentry  
Harpy's Feather Duster  
Makyura the Destructor  
Change of Heart

"You mean to tell me that you weren't using any of those cards just now Horus?? And you still whooped Kaiba that badly?? WOW!! You really are good!" Joey exclaimed

"Why thank you Joey." Horus replied "That is how The Saints play the game, and on that note, I believe that Maximus is up now."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Intense But Pure

Maximus walked over to a chair near the computer station. He reached into the inside pocket of a P-Coat draped over it. He pulled out a small plastic box, just like the one Horus had. This box however was gray and not gold and had studs lining it.

"It's my turn now." Maximus said. "I have a story of my own to tell, but I would prefer to duel first before telling it." He then turned his head and looked directly at Joey. "What do you say Joey, care for a friendly challenge?"

"I accept." came Joey's reply, "I came here to see what true master duelists are capable of and I plan to test out you guys."

With that both Joey and Maximus walked over to their respective sides of the dueling platform and took their places.

"Show me no mercy. For you shall receive none." Maximus said to his opponent

"You want it, you got it. Let's Duel!!!" Joey responded

In just a few seconds, the holographic projectors turned back on, and the Life Point counters for Joey and Maximus were set to 8000. Both players drew their 5 cards and the duel began. Maximus reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a quarter.

"Why don't we flip to see who goes first?" He said

"Fair enough." Joey responded "I'll call heads"

Maximus flipped the quarter up into the air. It fell back down onto the arena below. Both he and Joey looked at it and sure enough it was heads.

'OK, I'll start this off." Joey said as he drew his sixth card. "OK I'll start off by laying one card face down on the field, and summoning Gearfried the Iron Knight to the field."

Joey's face-down card materialized on the arena, and so did his monster, Gearfried. Gearfried was a knight with a suit of metal armor and a long metal lance built into his right arm. It stood at 1800 Attack points. 

Maximus drew his sixth card as well. He looked at his cards intently for a few moments before making his move. "Not a bad start, but let's see how he holds up against this. I'll start by placing one card face down as well. And then I'll summon Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke to the field."

Maximus's card appeared just as Joey's did. Then his monster card materialized and out of the picture stepped a masked ninja with a white suit, green cloak and a pair of daggers in this hands. The ninja also had 1800 Attack points so it was an even match for Gearfried. An attack would have destroyed both monsters.

Maximus paused for a moment "I'll end my turn at that." He said

"My turn now." Joey said his face was full of focus. He saw a chance to do some real damage to Maximus. "Now I summon Goblin Attack Force."

At this there was a rumbling sound that sounded like footsteps. The steps grew louder and louder until eventually there appeared on Joey's field a mass of goblin warriors, each armed with spiked clubs and dressed in plate armor. The goblins had an attack strength of 2300, more than enough to destroy Maximus's ninja

"Go Goblin Attack Force!! Attack his Ninja!!" Joey shouted.

At once the mass of goblins charged forward and proceeded to club Maximus's ninja to death. The ninja shattered and Maximus dropped down to 7500 Life Points after the attack

"Not bad" he said "Not bad at all!"

Joey wasn't finished yet. "Gearfried, Attack him directly!!" Joey shouted. His knight jumped forward and swung his lance at Maximus.

"I don't think so. I'll activate the trap card Sakuretsu Armor. This little gadget will destroy your Gearfried before he can hit me." Maximus shouted and his trap card activated.

A suit of armor sprung forward and attached to Gearfried. As it clamped onto him, the knight screamed out with pain as the armor began to glow. About 5 seconds later the armor exploded and destroyed Gearfried along with it.

Joey was a bit upset at this. "No! Gearfried" he exclaimed "It no big deal, at least I get his ninja. Now my goblins switch to defense mode and I'll end my turn."

"Joey's keeping his cool up there. He's going to need to stay focused if he wants to win this duel." Yugi said

"Very true, but we have no idea what Maximus is capable of pulling off up there. Joey still has to be careful." Tea responded

Upon hearing this, Yugi gave Tea another slightly displeased look. Tea didn't notice this time as she was focused on the duel. Meanwhile Maximus began his turn.

"That was just a warm-up, time to really get going." He said "This time around I'll set two cards facedown on the field and summon my good friend Marauding Captain."

Onto the field emerged the Marauding Captain. He was a warrior dressed in full plate armor except for his head which was uncovered. He held a long sword in each of his hands.

Maximus then spoke up. "As you probably know, the Marauding Captain has a special ability that allows me to special summon any monster from my hand with up to 4 stars. I'm going to choose one you might recognize. Say hello to Mystic Swordsman Level 2!"

Just as in Horus's duel the Mystic Swordsman appeared on the field with his purple armor and sword in hand.

"Time to declare my attack, Mystic Swordsman will attack your Goblins"

At this Joey froze. He considered using his face down card, Skull Dice, which would weaken the Swordsman's attack power, but he changed his mind since it would serve no use. His goblins were in defense mode and had 0 defense points. The Swordsman would still destroy it. Maximus's Swordsman ran forward, and swung his sword down onto the goblins. His slash sliced directly through the chests of the goblins. The entire mass was destroyed.

"Now Marauding Captain will attack directly." Maximus said.

With this the soldier also ran forward, raised both of his swords over his head and delivered a double slash that took 1200 life points away from Joey. After the attack Maximus's Swordsman began to glow just like Horus's dragon.

"Uh-Oh!" Joey said, "This is not good! I know what that light means."

"How very observant you are, Maximus replied." "Just like Horus the Black Flame Dragon, my Mystic Swordsman grows stronger when he destroys a monster in battle. Now my Level 2 Swordsman grows into a Level 4 Swordsman." 

Once Maximus said this, the glow faded and his Swordsman grew. The Level 4 version of Mystic Swordsman was taller and older than the Level 2 version. If Level 2 was a boy of about 10 or 11 years of age, then Level 4 was a young man of about 17 years of age. His sword also grew. It grew from a single sword into a double-bladed sword that the Swordsman held in the centre. Its Attack Strength jumped from 900 to 1900 as well.

"This looks really bad guys." Tristan said

"Tell me about it." Tea added "Maximus's Swordsmen can evolve just like Horus's Dragons. Who knows what this can do, or even worse, what the next version he's got can do."

"Come on Joey! Keep fighting!" Yugi shouted from the stands

Joey drew his card; his face was full of relief. "Nothing like a Heart of the Cards moment to save my skin." He said. "Since you have two monsters and I have none I can special summon my Fiend Megacyber to the field without having to sacrifice anything first."

Joey's Fiend Megacyber was a large metal soldier. Its steps shook the arena floor as it materialized and walked onto the field. At 2200, it could beat either of Maximus's monsters.

"Now I think I'll make this hurt a bit more, I'll use my Skull Dice Trap Card and weaken your Swordsman."

Upon activation there appeared a small demon like figure with a large red, six sided die. He proceeded to throw it. The die jostled around the floor for a few bounces before landing on the number 4. This meant that Maximus's Swordsman would lose 400 Attack points for the rest of Joey's turn. 

"A four eh?? I'll take it! Fiend Megacyber, attack his Mystic Swordsman." Joey shouted.

His monster jumped forward and threw a punch at Maximus's Swordsman. Just before impact however, the Marauding Captain jumped into the path of the punch and took the blow for Mystic Swordsman. The Captain tried to block with his swords but to no avail. He was destroyed and Maximus lost 1000 Life Points, leaving him with 6500.

Joey was confused "How come your Captain took the Blow?"

Maximus shook his head rather disappointingly. "Joey, have you forgotten Marauding Captain's Secondary ability?" He said "With him on the field you cannot attack any other Warrior type monster on my field except for him. Since my Swordsman is a Warrior, Marauding Captain protected him."

Joey slapped himself across the face "Rats!!! I totally forgot about that one."

"He's losing it guys. Joey's cracking!" Tristan reported "Stay Calm up there!"

Having lost some of his momentum, Joey resumed "Fine, I'll place one more card, Face Down and set one monster face-down and end my turn."

Maximus drew his card. He held the back of the card to Joey. The card, like all the others in Maximus's deck were cased in black sleeves with silver shields across the backs.

"I'll play the Magic Card called Reinforcement of the Army. This lets me search my deck for any Warrior monster with up to 4 stars and add it to my hand." He said. Maximus then pullout one card and showed it to Joey. "I think I'll go for another Mystic Swordsman Level 4." He declared as he shuffled his deck. "OK let's have some fun! I'll switch my Swordsman to Defense mode and activate the Trap Zero Gravity. This forces all face up monsters to switch battle positions."

There was a strange pulling on the platform on both sides and after a few seconds Joey's Fiend Megacyber assumed a crouch-blocking position and Maximus's Swordsman stood up ready to attack.

"Next I'll set one monster face-down on the field, and I'll activate the Magic of Book of Taiyou."

"Book of Taiyou? What's that??" Joey asked

A magical book appeared over top of Maximus's face-down monster. A bright light, almost like sunlight began to shine down from the book onto the card.

"The magic of the Book of Taiyou causes one face-down monster to flip up into attack mode." Maximus explained." So I'm using it on my face-down card, so I can flip it up and attack with it. And that card is none other than my other Mystic Swordsman Level 4."

"Hold on a minute!" Joey shouted "Don't you need to have Level 2 destroy a monster before it can become Level 4?"

At this question Maximus smiled. He then explained "Fortunately for me, the Mystic Swordsmen can all be summoned normally. The catch is that if I normal summon Level 4 or Level 6 I have to place it face-down first."

"So Maximus's deck is full of those Swordsmen guys and he has plenty of ways to get them on the field." Tea said

"Now to attack, I'll have one of my Swordsmen destroy your face down card first. And yes, I should tell you now, Level 4 has that same 'Destroys face-down monsters instantly' effect, so prepare for the Umbral Energy Blade."

Mystic Swordsman Level 4 jumped forward towards Joey's face down monster. He took one end of his sword and plunged it through the center of the card. The blade then became enveloped in a glow of black energy. When the glow was large enough the Swordsman removed his sword and the energy traveled into the hole left by the sword into the monster, destroying the card from the inside out.

"Now my other Swordsman will attack your Fiend Megacyber!" Maximus shouted.

At this the second Swordsman jumped forward and prepared to slash at Joey's monster. This time Joey was prepared.

"Not so fast Maximus!! Activate Magic Arm Shield!!"

Joey's trap sprung into action, revealing a set of extendable arms. The arms reached out and grabbed the Swordsman who destroyed Joey's face down card. The arms began to retract and pull the captured Swordsman into the path of the attacking Swordsman.

"Good play Joey, but I can't allow you to kill my Swordsmen so easily." Maximus said "I'll activate my other face-down card, Book of Moon."

A second magical book now appeared on the field just like the last one. This time however it was aimed at the captured Mystic Swordsman. The magical energy of this book caused Maximus's captured Swordsman to drop back into a crouching position and finally it disappeared into face-down position, Meanwhile the Swordsman continued it's attack, but since it was now forced to attack another face-down monster it once again plunged its sword down and created the same dark energy that destroyed the previous monster.

"If I didn't do something, both of my Swordsmen would have been destroyed." Maximus began "So I used my Book of Moon Magic Card to turn the captured one face down so it would get destroyed rather than both my Swordsmen. I'll end my turn by setting one card face down."

"Let's do this then." Joey said, once again he saw an opening to hurt Maximus. "I'll sacrifice my Fiend so I can summon Jinzo"

Joey's Fiend faded away and in its place stood the android Jinzo. He was a tall, lanky menacing looking robot with spikes lining his neck area.

"Jinzo's special effect renders all trap cards useless so he's going to blow your Swordsman away. Attack now!" Joey ordered

Maximus shot Joey a sly look and raised one of his eyebrows

"Who said this was a trap card?" Maximus replied "It's actually another Quick-Play Magic Card called Enemy Controller." After it's activation a small video-game controller appeared in Maximus's hands and the wire stretched out and into Jinzo.  
"I think I'll have Jinzo switch to Defense position" Maximus stated and Jinzo was forced down into a blocking stance.

Joey, flustered by this turn of events looked like was losing his composure.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh No!! Not again!! Fine I end my turn" He said

"Joey's dueling well up there but Maximus has been able to counter all his moves." Yugi said

"Would you expect anything less from one of us?" Horus replied

Maximus drew his card. "Time to put a hurting on you Joey." He began "I'll start by playing Pot of Greed and drawing two more cards. Next I'll activate The Warrior Returning Alive. This will let me return my Marauding Captain to my hand. I will now summon the Marauding Captain, and with his effect I shall special Summon another Mystic Swordsman Level 2." 

The Captain and the Swordsman both appeared on Maximus's field along side the Swordsman.

"I'll have Mystic Swordsman Level 4 attack Jinzo." Maximus declared and his Swordsman leaped forward and swung one end of his sword into Jinzo's chest. He then swung the second blade into Jinzo's stomach area and Jinzo shattered into pieces. "Now My Captain and my other Swordsman will both attack directly."

Just as before Marauding Captain delivered a double-overhead sword slash taking 1200 Life Points from Joey. He was now down to 5600. Mystic Swordsman Level 2 ran up to Joey and swung with his sword. Joey writhed in pain as his Life Points dropped to 4700. After Level 2 returned to position, Level 4 began to glow as he did before.

"With that, I shall end my turn." Maximus stated, "And now I shall introduce you to Mystic Swordsman Level 6."

The light faded and the Swordsman grew again. The Level 6 Swordsman was a fully grown man of about 23 years of age. He took the double edged sword and snapped it into two separate swords that he held crossed over each other. This Swordsman had an attack strength of 2300 points. Joey grew desperate. He needed to find a way to beat Maximus's Swordsman. He looked into his hand and saw a way to buy some time and maybe get one more turn to defeat the Swordsman.

"It's Neko Mane King!" Joey thought to himself. "If I put this face down and Maximus destroys this with his Swordsman, it will end his turn and buy me some time. It's worth a shot. So here goes. All right Maximus, I'll set one monster face-down and end my turn. Let's see you handle this one."

Maximus just smiled "You have no idea what you've just done." He said, "But now you'll find out. Mystic Swordsman Level 6 will attack your face-down monster, and yes he too has the destruction effect. So go!!! Umbrial Energy Blast!"

At this command Mystic Swordsman Level 6 raised his swords up in over his head. They began to glow with dark energy as Level 4's blade did earlier. He then swung his swords down in an X pattern and released a black energy wave directly at Joey's face-down card, shattering it instantly on impact. Shortly after there was a twinkle of lights rising from Joey's field aimed at the top of his deck

"Ha!! The jokes on you Maximus!" Joey proclaimed "You destroyed my Neko Mane King, and when it goes to the Graveyard by a card effect your turn ends right then and there."

"Oh really!" Maximus replied "Trouble is your monster isn't in the graveyard. I guess I should have told you but anytime Mystic Swordsman Level 6 destroys a monster with his effect, I can activate his secondary ability and return that monster to the top of my opponent's deck instead."

"Say WHAT!!!!!" Joey exclaimed, obviously he was not prepared to hear that news.

"Tell you what, I'll end my turn. Go ahead and draw if you don't believe me." Maximus proclaimed.

Joey drew his card. Sure enough it was the same Neko Mane King Maximus had destroyed.

"No way!!" Joey shouted "Well I'm not going down without a fight." I'll summon Alligator Sword and attack your Marauding Captain."

Joey's beast emerged onto the field and proceeded to jump at Marauding Captain and slash it with a sword. The Captain was destroyed and Maximus lost 300 Life Points leaving him with 6200.

"Next I'll set one card face down and end my turn." Joey said

Maximus drew his card. "Time to end this." he said. I'll start by Activating Mystical Space Typhoon and destroying your face-down card." As his Magic Card activated a gust of wind blew across the arena. This gust quickly became a spinning spiral cloud that made its way towards Joey's face-down card and swallowed it whole.

"No, My Negate Attack!" Joey said rather unhappily.

"It's not over yet." Maximus stated "Now I'll activate the Magic of Offerings to the Doomed and get rid of your Alligator."

When this card activated Joey's monster was surrounded by clouds of smoke and incense. The smoke quickly enveloped Alligator Sword completely and after a few seconds disappeared and Joey's monster was gone with it.

"Now I'll Summon Command Knight to the field, and her special ability gives all Warrior Monsters I control an extra 400 Attack Points."

As Maximus's Knight emerged onto the field, the blades of his two Swordsmen glowed deep red. Mystic Swordsman Level 2's Attack Points jumped to 1300, Level 6's to 2700 and Command Knight herself jumped from 1200 to 1600.

"Time to attack, I'll let Level 2 start it off." Maximus stated. His Swordsman ran forward again and delivered another painful slash to Joey, dropping him down to 3300 Life Points. "Now Command Knight will attack." At this the Command Knight jumped forward and unsheathed her sword in midair. She slashed Joey across the chest diagonally and once again Joey writhed in pain. He was now down to 1700 Life Points  
"And for the Grand Finale, Mystic Swordsman Level 6 will now strike." Maximus said. When he gave this order Mystic Swordsman Level 6 jumped high into the air. He did a double front somersault in the air and as he descended he spun around in a circle swinging both of his swords in a wide arc. The swords hit Joey in the chest and stomach respectively. After this attack Joey's Life Points stood at 0.

Maximus looked over at him "And that my friend is game." He said


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Ties of Family

The holographic projectors turned off and the images disappeared. Maximus scooped his deck back into his box and hopped down to the floor. Joey gathered up his deck and slowly began to descend the platform. He was still hurting from the duel. Maximus walked up to Joey and offered a handshake. Joey reached out and accepted the gesture.

"You made a very worthy effort up there." Maximus said. I've played people who couldn't stand up to my Swordsmen half as well as you did. You got guts!!"

Joey's eyes brightened at the sound of this. Some of the pain felt less intense as well.

"Thanks Maximus, You're all right."

"Glad to hear it! You're not so bad yourself." Maximus replied

"Tell me," Joey said. "Is there a story behind those Swordsmen guys you have?" It's like you have the same kind of bond with them that Horus has with his dragons."

Maximus turned his head upwards to the ceiling for a few moments before looking back at the crowd around him. He then began to speak.

'While I haven't noticed any strange powers or mysterious past behind the Mystic Swordsmen cards, I do in fact feel a bond with them. The only other times I've felt a bond like this are with Matt and Sean, and my sister Mary."

"You have a sister?" Yugi asked. Maximus paused for a moment before letting out a sigh. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Inside was a small black-and white photograph of him standing in front of a Christmas tree standing next to a young woman. She was a slender, muscular woman. Her physique was similar to one of a runner or a swimmer. Her skin was clear just like his was, although it looked like she had some red in her cheeks. Her hair was slightly brighter than his was. She few inches taller than he was as well. Both were wearing dark T-shirts and an early version of running pants. Both of them had their arms around each other and had bright smiles across their faces. On the back of the photo was a hand-written message

Dan,

No matter how far away we may be, we'll always be together.  
Your loving sister,

Mary

December 17, 1921

Maximus showed this picture to Yugi, Tea, Joey and Tristan. When they passed it back to him, he carefully placed it back in his wallet. He then put his wallet away and began to speak.

"As Horus already stated, my real name is Daniel Clay." He began "That woman in the picture was my big sister, Mary. She was the only woman I've ever been close to in my life. I was born in 1901, she was born in 1899. Our mother died in 1908. We had no other siblings and our father worked as pharmacist so he was working all sorts of crazy hours. He provided for us a decent living but for the most part, the only family I had was Horus, Shinobi, and Mary. Whenever I couldn't be with either of them, I was with Mary. Between the four of us, we had plenty of good times, and were like one big happy family. At least until 1919, when the three of us were called to Ireland to receive the Philosopher's Stone fragments. It broke my heart that we three were chosen but they couldn't give a piece to Mary. They said that it was because since ancient times, only men could use the power of the Philosopher's stone. I accepted my fate as a keeper of the stone but with some sadness in my heart, because I knew that it would mean that I would have to leave my friends. And I would have to leave Mary."

"Judging from that picture, I'd say you and Mary were really close." Joey said.

"Yeah, we were." Maximus said. His speech became quite emotional and he began to cry from all the emotion. "That Christmas was the last one I spent with her before I left the area. We had that picture taken together as a reminder that we would always be there for each other. Early in '22 I left and went down to Hollywood and took up a job as a writer for several film companies. I bounced around from Warner Brothers, to Colombia to 20th Century Fox for quite some time. I couldn't complain about my paychecks, but the main suits, the presidents of the companies, they were real jerks. It was really difficult to write scripts the way I wanted to write them. I, along with lots of other writers, felt that our creativity was being stifled. Nevertheless I persevered through it. I must admit though it would have been nice to have one chance to just tell one of those creeps off."

That's corporate America for you." Tristan replied

"Was that the last time you ever saw your sister?" Joey asked "I have a sister myself and it would really stink to never see Serenity again."

Maximus continued. "Fortunately for Mary and me, we did see each other again. She and I would write letters to each other at least once a week. If one of us thought of it, we would place a phone call from time to time but it was mainly letters. The next time I saw Mary was April of 1927 at her wedding. She was the most beautiful bride I've ever seen in my life. The depression did a number on the film industry but I managed to keep a steady job over at Colombia Pictures. I was working primarily with the Short Subject department writing scripts for two-reeler films that they'd show before showing the movie until 1936. I got a letter from Mary saying that dad had died. I went home for the funeral and there Mary told me she was going to take over running the family Pharmacy. She said that she would have really loved it if I came back and ran the place with her. It was sad for me to leave Hollywood, but I wanted to see Mary again, so I did it. By this time, Mary had two sons, ages 5 and 2. They were absolutely adorable, so she and I would take turns running the place, you know filling prescriptions and stuff like that while the other played with the kids. Her husband was manager of a bank on the other side of town between the three of us money wasn't an issue for much of the time."

"That was really kind of your sister to ask you to come back and help her." Tea remarked.

"I was truly happy for years." Maximus began. "I had a job that I enjoyed doing and provided a good income. I had my health, I had friends, and I had my sister. Things got kind of complicated starting around 1960. Mary's husband had a heart attack and died that year. She began to slowly turn over the place to her sons. She and I both wanted to keep the store in the family. At that same time we realized another problem. Because of my Philosopher's Stone, I was not aging at all while everyone around me was getting older. This began to pose more of a problem as the years went on. We figured out a way around it by making it so that I would just work in the back room of the place preparing medications. This worked for a number of years, but my nephews began to wonder about me. Yes, they knew about the stone. In 1967, they actually wanted me to leave the pharmacy, but Mary stopped them. She said that she would not let me go anywhere because I was still her brother and she loved me. It was the single nicest thing I think Mary ever did for me, sticking up for me right there."

Maximus paused for another moment while a tear ran down his cheek. The group just stood back and waited for him.

When he regained his composure Yugi asked a question: "I bet it must have been hard on you when she died. "

Maximus continued: 'Yeah, it was really bad. As the years went on, Mary retired and turned over the store to her sons. They still run it to this day but are preparing their own children to take over. I give Mary credit on one thing. She taught them the value of keeping things in the family. But anyway, in 1973, Mary got sick. I guess at age 74 her health just began to deteriorate. She knew that her time was nearly up so she asked me to care for her. I spent nearly all my free time with her and I asked her something I'd wondered about for over 50 years. 'Did it ever bother you that you could not receive a piece of the stone like I did?'

'No, Dan' she said 'I understood that you were chosen and not I. I understood that it was your destiny and not mine. I know it hurts you to think about this, but I'll be fine. God will take care of me and I will have my own form of life Eternal

I knew she was comfortable with the decisions the monks had made, but I couldn't help but wonder what if she could have a piece as well.

"But Mary, in years to come, you will be gone. I on the other hand will still be here. What will I do when that time comes? You're the only person that has ever loved me."

She then pulled out her wallet and showed me the very same picture that I showed you all. I wrote a message to her on the back. She showed it to me.

Mary,

You've been there for me since the beginning. I will always be there for you.  
I love you!

Your brother

Daniel

December 17, 1921

"Dan, I couldn't have asked for a better brother than you.' She said 'Don't worry about me. I'll always be with you, even after I am gone. I love you!"

Seeing that picture and hearing her say that to me was like a beacon of hope to me. To know that my sister still remembered what I wrote so many years earlier. Ii gave me hope that I would be able to go on after she died. Sure enough, Mary passed away on August 19, 1975. Two days later she was laid to rest. That was the single worst day of my life. My sister was gone.

"So what did you do?" Joey asked

"Once she died, I left the pharmacy and moved to New Jersey. I took a job there at a publishing company just outside of Trenton. Not a bad job, but my life was kind of in disarray. Without Mary I just felt like I had no sense of direction. Sure she was with me in spirit if not in body, but I didn't know how to connect with that spirit. Fortunately for me however I found an unusual solution to my troubles: games. I began to learn how to play different kinds of games. Board games, video games, even card games. It was weird. It was like by playing games I felt young again and I was playing with Horus, Shinobi, and Mary again. It made me feel like I was young again, so I played games with some friends as often as I could. The 1990's saw the rise of trading card games. Duel Monsters was the one that intrigued me the most. I guess it was all those monsters and the stories behind them. I took to Duel Monsters like a duck to water. Trouble with me was that I started off too fast for my own good. I went to local tournaments with very basic cards and got whooped pretty badly. As time progressed however I developed some skill, but it was at a regional tournament in 1998 that got me on the right path."

"What happened there?" Tea asked

"I was studying the decks and playing styles of all the participants." Maximus said "Sure these guys were good, but something was strange. It seemed like all of them were focused on one basic strategy, summon out the powerful monsters and pound your opponent into dust. I felt like I was watching an Episode of Star Trek and all these people were assimilated by The Borg. There was one exception. The guy who eventually won the tournament ran a deck that had everyone stunned. He called it "The Solar Eclipse." His name was Reese Silver. After the tournament I went up to him and stared to ask him how he built that deck. I asked him if he would help me out with my deck and he not only agreed to help me, but he was willing to teach me as well. He lived just outside of New York City so we could get together and train. Reese taught me most of what he knew about Duel Monsters and my skills developed sharply under his tutelage. But then one day he said to me: 'Dan, you're good, but if you really want to get good, you need to see Master Raigia. He's the man who taught me how to duel.'

"Did you do that?" Yugi asked.

Maximus continued "Reese took me up into the mountains to some cabin on a lake in northern New Jersey. Master Raigia was a recluse who was a master of nearly every card game you could imagine. He had been known to train people on occasion and Reese was one of his students. After a long talk with Reese, Master Raigia agreed to take me as a student. As a going away present Reese gave me my first Mystic Swordsman card. It was a Level 2 Swordsman. I accepted this card and quickly decided that I would use it as a way of honoring Reese. Training with Master Raigia was pretty intense. In addition to dueling I also trained my body as well. I had to hunt for game animals, fish, chop wood, among other things. He said that if my body was strong it would keep my mind alert. This was also followed by extreme training through dueling. This guy was GOOD!! He could easily duel circles around me without breaking a sweat half the time. As the months went on he definitely began to warm up to me. He saw how I had embraced the Level 2 Swordsman Reese gave me and helped me acquire two more of them. He even gave me a Level 4 Mystic Swordsman."

"So is this when you put that deck together?" Joey asked

"Actually no." Maximus answered. "I had a few Swordsmen, but not enough to create a deck focused on them. My deck at this point was an Earth based beat down deck. I was focused on ways to power up Earth based monsters so I could do some real damage. Master Raigia taught me that the secret to a good deck is that all the cards must work together. He also taught me the value of versatility. Most of his cards could be used in so many different decks that it looked like his deck was truly 'The Well Balanced Deck" as he described it. If it needed to attack it could, if it wanted to whittle away at someone's hand it could, if it wanted to stall it could. The man sure knew how to play the game.  
Eventually after about 10 months he told me my training was done. He called up Reese to come pick me up. As a gift to me for completing my training, Master Raigia gave me a Mystic Swordsman Level 6. I was ecstatic. I now had a full set of the Mystic Swordsmen cards. I set out to find two more Level 4's and one more Level 6. It took me quite a bit of trading and some cash but in early 2000 I finally found them. I was now ready to build my Swordsman deck. Reese said to me that he was really honored that I was using the card he gave me. I told him that he was a good man and I admired him for the fact that he dueled his way and dueled with honor and virtue."

"Do you still talk to Reese?" Tea said

"Occasionally." Maximus said "He's still living up by New York, but he doesn't do big tournaments like he used to. He's become more of a teacher these days. In fact one of his students won the New York City championship back in March. I owe a great deal to the man He helped me develop my skills and introduced me to a man who developed them even further. I built my deck using everything they taught me and I've been using it ever since. Most people pass up Mystic Swordsman because they don't understand what he can do, but I learned to understand the value of every card so I chose to embrace the Swordsman. I must say it's like we're connected or something. I feel as if with this deck I have done something that Mary would be proud of. She's become the main reason I duel. Because I love Mary and I feel as though her spirit flows through my cards and aides me in battle."

"That is really sweet. It's kind of how I feel about Serenity. I feel like she's with me and my deck." Joey said

'I guess you and I are more alike than I thought" Maximus said. "That's why I chose to duel you. Because you share a bond with your sister similar to the one I have with my sister but moving on with my tale. In May of 2001 I was at a Regional Tournament out near Philadelphia and after one of my matches was over I looked a few tables down and lo and behold it was none other that Shinobi. I couldn't believe it. I hadn't seen him in over 80 years and here he was at a Duel Monsters Tournament. I ran over to him and we embraced each other. Not too long after that, we ran into Horus, and what was a good day then turned into a great day turned into the best day ever. The three of us were back together. It was Horus's idea that we stick together and try to start up a game shop and he knew just the place to do it. A few days later we bought this place, gutted it out and turned it into Game Sanctuary. I think you know the rest from there. We went to Ireland, received our items and thus "The Saints" were born. After our return Horus suggested that since we are Saints that we should make Game Sanctuary a true Sanctuary. Hence we began the "No Ante-Dueling" rule and we began to take in and train people."

"Just out of curiosity what was your favorite moment as a Saint?" Tristan asked 'Surely you've crushed someone like Horus did to Kaiba."

Maximus smiled, then he began "That would have to be the time when right before Duelist Kingdom when I played Weevil Underwood."

"You actually dueled that little grub." Joey interrupted

"Yeah, I dueled him." Maximus resumed "He'll never admit to it since I told him never to speak of the duel to anyone except the 5 or so people who watched it, but I made him literally wet his pants when he saw my Swordsmen take out his Ultimate Moth.

Afterwards he threw himself at my feet and begged 'Please Maximus, don't tell anyone about this. I'll be humiliated.' I told him I had no intention of humiliating him by telling people about this duel, but if he were to tell anyone about the duel I would be forced to subject him to fire and torment the likes he could only imagine. Oh man that was a fun duel. I know it's cruel to torment people like that but let's face it. They have it coming. People like Weevil and Kaiba always run their mouths about being the best. Someone has to put them in their places. We at times enjoy being those some bodies."

After several moments of silence Maximus asked the group "Is there anything else you were interested in knowing about me?"

"Nope, I guess that's it then." Yugi said "I guess now we'll hear from Shinobi."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: "For every Death... there is new Life"

Shinobi silently approached the rest of the group, almost unnoticed; escaping all but the eyes of Horus.

"Speak of the devil." Horus said in an inviting tone,  
"We were just."

"Talking about me. Yeah, I know." Shinobi quickly interrupted, pointing at the gold choker around his neck. It was a silent reminder of the power of his Millennium Pendant.

"Then you already know it's your turn to regale us, right?" Maximus spoke up. 

"You know I'm actually not much for talking about myself, you have to catch me in that particular mood." Shinobi said.

Tea looked up toward Shinobi. Yugi noticed the look in his friend's face and followed suit.

"Yes, we know, but think of our guests. We've both given up a little something to our new friends." Horus replied. "And it's only being gracious to ones who would be our new allies in our future struggles."

Suddenly, Shinobi's eyes flashed a hue of blue, and then both Horus and he grew strangely quiet and attentive to each other. In reality, Shinobi was speaking to Horus through a telepathic link via the power of the Pendant.

"Wow, are they doing what I think they are?" Tea said.

As if in response, a voice rang out in her head,

"Yes, Ms. Gardner, we are."

Tea gasped then responded with "Whoa that was trippy." "Hey Yugi, is that what it was like with you and The Pharaoh?" she asked.

"You mean always two different voices in your own head?" Yugi answered, "Yeah, pretty much in a nutshell."

A moment later, Shinobi broke off from his connection and said "Ok, fine, I guess before we get on with my match, I'll tell you as much as I should be able to; within reason of course." "I don't really like having my questions unanswered either anyway."

"I guess I'm up next, right?" Yugi inquired.

"And since only one of you hasn't gone, I guess that makes it Yugi vs. Shinobi." added Joey.

Shinobi stared toward Yugi and said "I'll have you know I won't be holding back just like Maximus so, you'd best be ready."

"Oh, don't you worry; I can promise you a fight." Yugi replied.

"Now to start, I was born Sean Phoenix; as Horus said before. After our return to the States from receiving our charge in Ireland, we split up and we went our separate ways. I hadn't a clue about where the others went after that point but I decided to go on a bit of a pilgrimage. My family had a great deal of disposable income from our family business to say the least, and I figured it wasn't like my presence would be greatly missed at that point."

"Your family must have been powerful, like Kaiba is now." Joey interrupted. "What was the family business, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Point at a name in the stocks section of the paper, and my family usually has a hand in it." Shinobi answered.

He gave a cynical grin, followed by a short, bellowing laugh. Horus and Maximus caught on to the joke and laughed out loud as well.

"Huh, what's so funny?" Joey inquired.

"Poor Kaiba, my family actually has semi-prominent stockholding in Kaiba Corp." Shinobi answered with a chuckle. "If you thought Kaiba was mad when he left, imagine if he knew his own company was splitting the bill for his new best friends."

"That includes this equipment that was used in his humiliation." Maximus added. "That's adding insult to injury."

"Anyway, returning to the story." Shinobi replied. "I always wanted an excuse to travel anyway and this was it. I figured the best way I could learn about what I had to do with my gift, my mission, and what I really had to offer was to find out for myself. I went all over the world to the places I've always wanted, especially Europe; Great Britain, Scotland, Germany, Italy, and others. And yet, all the while, I was keeping apart from the brattle of the regular world. However, curiosity decidedly brought me to somehow back to Ireland, a choice that would haunt to this day, even if Fate itself had ordained it."

"Why did you go back to Ireland?" Tea asked.

"I was hoping for answers about what we really supposed to do and about the power of our items." Shinobi answered. "The Monks at the Monastery only said it was best to separate for security, they never said we couldn't return on our own. I had questions, and I hate unanswered questions." "I returned to the exact location of the Monastery, but when I arrived I found it strangely cold and empty. I checked everywhere for two days straight, but found no trace of the original hosts. Later one night, I stood in the main hall, about to give up and move on elsewhere. Suddenly, total silence was broken; I heard a single scratch along the floor. It echoed through the vast room. I was obviously not alone after all. A second scratch was heard. At some point, I believed whoever was in here was just toying with me at that point. "If you're done playing, come on out and do what you came here to do." I said aggressively.

"You, Americans, always so noisy." said a voice in the dark. "Just think, if I wanted to take a shot at your skull, it would have been only too easy. "

"It's nice to be wanted; my head serving as target practice would afford you necessary character building." I retorted.

"Oh well, aren't you funny. Well, tell me what you're doing here I promise to leave you be. Given your response anyway." the young woman threatened.

"Fine, fair enough, but how about a little even ground first?" I said

Deciding to let my guard down just a little to keep from being threatening and provoking her more. From around one of the columns, walked a gray-cloaked tall, yet slender figure, wearing the hood to hide her face.

"I was here looking for the monks that usually reside here, I had questions and I was hoping to get some answers." I asked.

"Well, I'm afraid you're here at the wrong time. Those monks don't stay around." she finally answered "But you should have figured that out, considering the nature of your mission."

"And just what would you know about any mission?!" I demanded.

"I know that stone around your neck is more then a Cracker Jack prize." She replied. "To be frank, I know you've been charged with by the Monks to be a keeper of The Philosopher's Stone, a most gracious honor even to witness such a thing."

"Can I assume you were born with a name?" I asked.

The cloaked woman reaches up and pulls down her hood to finally reveal her face.

"My name, if you must know, is Solara."

Solara and I had a lot to discuss. Apparently, she was a descendant of original alchemists who worked on the stones. Being a woman, she wasn't allowed to be officially allowed to become a monk, but she was well taken care of and treated like family. She went about how she was allowed to be present when we were conferred with our stones. She also told me that the stones we wear are actually incomplete Philosopher's Stones, which is why they only bestowed agelessness. A true Philosopher's Stone, she told me has much more pull with the elements of life itself, including creating it. We certainly could not do that, and I'm not sure any of us would have wanted such a gift like that. Our stones were of a light bluish hue, proof of their incomplete nature, since a true Stone is blood crimson, deeper than a fresh ruby. She was quick to tell me that many people died in the creation of the stones, both in quest of a true one and even our stones. Hearing this was not what I expected; my heart was already troubled, but now to hear that our tools of protection were at the cost of human life. It was more then most people could take. Solara looked in my face and she already knew what I was thinking.

"Hey, don't give me that." She said. "I know this is a lot, but the best you can do is use what you've been given and make sure that anyone who sacrificed themselves for it haven't died in vain. Know the first rule of alchemy, the law of equivalent exchange; to obtain, something of equal value must be lost." Her words were almost a hammer stroke to me, a truth brought into the light.

"The blood of those who gave for your power," she continued. "Did so for a greater purpose, and it's your job not to let them down. Got it?"

I think I was starting to understand right then, but it wasn't all I wanted. As far as I knew, we were just given the protection of time itself to save the world. She saw the bewildered look; so she touched my face at the chin with one finger, and tilted it to look in my eyes and said.

"I know it's a lot, but know for a fact, that you already have everything you need to do exactly what you will accomplish, there's nothing else you NEED to know beyond that."

It was what I needed to hear, I decided right then and there on everything I was going to do after that. I figured on staying a little longer, just to learn everything else I could from this child of an alchemist, and use everything I was given to do what must be done, what will be done.

She didn't have too many disagreements over my staying in Ireland longer. Only that I stay away from the Monastery unless I was called for by the Monks who belonged there. This, of course, was for the secrecy and protection of the Monks. Over my stay, Solara taught me about the stones, of alchemy, and especially a strange group. The Order of Set or the Eternal Hunters they called themselves. Dark inhuman fiends, she called them. They revel on nothing but thievery, destruction and chaos. Anything as long as it brings them to their goals. They have, could, and would hurt anyone or anything that would stand against them. And what makes them even worse is that they truly believe everything they do to be right. That everything they do is dogmatically justified in their own false superiority. That might is the ONLY thing that makes right. They live to take from anyone, to destroy anything, and to kill anyone if it brought them closer to their ends. Just the thought of their existence was sickening almost as much to the body as the soul, the pit of the pure darkness of humanity. No, they weren't human, not anymore; just corrupted souls, demons to be erased as far as I was concerned. I was determined to make sure of that, as I was sure my brothers would think no differently once they knew.

I remained in Ireland just over 3 weeks, residing in Solara's childhood home with her; in a remote town much further away from the seclusion of the Monastery. One night, I was studying some of the documents Solara gave me to take back home. Everything had been quiet since my arrival, so my guard was down when I was given the shock of my life. I heard what I thought was a scream. I put the documents and any of my other possessions away in my pack, strapped it on and ran out to see what occurred. I saw nothing at first, and then another scream came from a house some distance away from me. Suddenly, one of the windows was broken out from what looked like a body being flung through it and remained straddled half over into the outside. I angrily ran inside, totally foolhardy to what lay inside, but knowing the assailants had to still be upstairs. I hate being right sometimes. Sure enough, I got upstairs, and there standing in front of a young redheaded girl were two men of average build wearing dark-brown, tight clothing; each wearing an open hooded shawl, with strange talismans fixed the garments at the neck. Not quite the Millennium Symbol we know now, as the original "eye" was smaller and segmented with horizontal lines and a half circle lay over top the new small eye. The clothes were likely desert wear, and the symbol was unmistakable from the documents I'd become accustomed to, an Egyptian symbol for the dark god Set. These were indeed the malicious and evil Eternal Hunters. One of the creeps was brandishing a curved knife, which he dropped from its position over their would-be victim.

"Well, the master only sent us for the Stonemaker's Daughter, but we didn't expect the Stonebearer to still remain behind." One of them spoke. "I don't think he would care if we ignore her and bring him HIS body instead with the real Stone."

"Actually, if we get him, the woman is nothing to us, and my knife is still thirsty." the other replied. Now at the time, I wasn't much of a fighter, but the human survival instinct is a powerful weapon when you need it. "He's not much, finish the girl and I'll deal with him." said the first Hunter.

"OH, WOW." Tea said with much exhilaration. "I don't know how I would react to all that; it seems most of the times I was in trouble, I was always saved by Yugi or Joey in some fashion."

"Yeah, Tea would be great with her own video game." Joey spoke up. "I can see it now, "The Legend of Tea." Some company will make millions off of that one!!"

Tea gave Joey the look of death.

"That's not funny, Joey, but maybe you can be in the exciting sequel, "Tea's Revenge" coming soon." Tea replied angrily.

"Can we let Shinobi continue his story, and then you can kill him." Yugi reminded her.

"Yeah, sorry guys, go ahead Sean." Tea replied.

"Thank you, Ms. Gardner." Shinobi added, nodding his head in response.

"Without much thought, the second Hunter took his knife from its sheath, and prepared to execute the young girl, while the first one came running headlong at me. I had to think fast, but my feet did the thinking for me. I quickly sidestepped my assailant and rolled around his advance; forcing him to hit the doorway with his shoulder, catching his knife in the wall as he hit the floor after his failure. I made a mad dash for the other to stop him before he can finish his task. He grabbed her by her already torn shirt; lifting up to her feet, ready to plunge his blade into her chest. The girl gets resourceful, picking up a small mechanical clock from a nearby desk and slamming it into the side of his head, square in his ear. Both painful and distracting, he dropped her and his weapon to the floor, attention drawn to the source of his suffering. This was all the chance I needed, I shoulder rush him from his blindside and he launched over the window sill, and tumbles out, taking the dead woman's body. They both crash onto the ground below; the Hunter's body hits headfirst, and he lands, remaining motionless. The girl looked severely shaken but relatively unharmed. Then I remembered the first, still living Hunter, who was getting back to his feet. He was blocking the doorway. I took the second Hunter's now unclaimed knife. I was fully prepared to kill this guy if I had to in order to protect myself and my charge. After all, he was nothing but a monster to me, not human. This monster however, was obviously trained for this, and he wanted only my Philosopher's Stone really, bloodlust for myself and all other innocents, then escape with my bloodied Stone in tow. I had to stop him; I readied myself for his next attack. Before I could answer to him, he answered to something else. As he made his approach, a long shaft of wood shot past my head from somewhere behind me; piercing through his neck. An arrow, punctured through both sides, the Hunter stopped completely before he fell to the floor dead.

I couldn't believe my luck. I checked behind me to see who my savior was. Across the open space, was another building; and in the window was Solara, with something resembling a small crossbow fixed to her arm. I suddenly remembered her mentioning that most alchemists were also engineers, so it made sense. I was reminded of our first meeting, when she originally threatened to shoot me; now I knew she was very serious about it considering her aim. I grabbed the girl by her hand, and we bolted down the stairs to the outside; passing what I now assumed to be the girl's dead father. She cringed just a bit as we went past, but remained calm, at least on the outside. Solara was already outside waiting for us. "Why are you still here?!" she demanded. Before I could answer, there came a loud sound approaching us, like a multitude of running footsteps. From beyond one of the house, there was a black shadow coming toward us. At second look, it was a crowd of the same hooded man, more Hunters; only this time, this group had a leader. A taller man, wearing the same outfit as the rest, except for red trim along his shawl, and he covered most of his face, and he carried a sword.

"Run, Sean, get out of here, NOW!!" Solara commanded.

All three of us ran like there was no tomorrow. We reached a point of town with a single building at the edge, she demanded we go inside. She led us to the cellar of the building. The inside looked normal, but Solara pulled a switch and a wall toward opened up revealing a passage. I just assumed it was more surprises from the ever resourceful Stonemaker's Daughter.

"Once the inner cage closes, this becomes a one-way only, no returning through this way, it's just for emergencies." She warned.

"You're coming to, right?" I asked. "Not yet. I have to keep them from following." She answered. She quickly shoved me into the entryway of the secret passage. "Now I wasn't going to give it to you until later when I could have explained it, or until I sent you off, but take it now, while there's time." She opened my jacket up and slipped something thin wrapped in red silk into my inner pocket. "That's yours now, I wish I had time to teach you what it is, but you just have to go now."

I grabbed her wrist and said "Wait, we'll see each other again, you promised to stay in touch right?"

"Yeah, of course, I'll always be around watching over you." She said as she closed my jacket back, and shut the inner cage door. The door locked automatically, just as she said one way only.

"Ok, your real mission begins now" she said with a sarcastic smile. "Take her to the village I told you about, and mention my name, they'll take care of that girl, then you go handle what you have to. And when you open up that gift, just remember about the First Rule of Alchemy. To gain something, you might have to lose something else." "But if it's equal gain, I'd have to lose something strong to gain something stronger, I haven't lost anything yet, and what would I have to lose to gain the understanding of this stone?"

"How about I decide for you?" said a voice in the darkness, from behind Solara.

Before she can react, the only sound to be heard was the sound of metal slicing through deep flesh. Solara hits the close button with her last reaction. From behind her, you see a dark image form, the leader of the troop of Hunter that was hunting us.

"I guess that was your loss, maybe now you'll be more of a challenge when we find you next time."

Solara clinches to the door as it closes, looking at me as I make my escape. I gave one last look at the man, determined to remember him. As before I turn back for the last time, as if in response, his eyes glowed green; as if signals me to remember nothing if not that. A final look at Solara with her eyes slowly shutting, and I disappeared.

I did everything I was supposed to. The girl who was with us was reunited with her sister, her closest family member, probably out of the town before the attack. A few days later I got on a plane back to America. On the plane, I open up the gift again, it was a card of some sort, like a playing card, and there was a note with it; which read:

To Sean

You probably haven't a clue what this is, but you'll need it I'll bet, or if you don't just keep it for me. It's symbolic, at least to me, of what being an alchemist is about. To gain, you have to lose something first. It might come in handy, or maybe it won't, but that's why this is your mission, you decide. On the back of this note is where you should go if you want to learn how to use it.

Good luck, hero:

Solara

On the back was map of Japan with a red circled X over the Prefecture of Aomori. On the side, it said "Kyosuke Toshiro." So that's where I was going, to Japan to find this "Kyosuke Toshiro" and I'll figure out exactly how even this card, her card, will help me. This card named "Angel's Gift – Graceful Charity."

"You know, Shinobi. I actually don't think you told even us that story with such passion." Horus stated. "I forgot how painful it was." 

"Yeah, and here we are egging you on to continue, I kind of feel bad now." Tea said apologetically.

"Look, I got it out anyway, maybe it was for the best" Shinobi replied. "Angst isn't so good to keep in, right?"

"I guess it's pretty safe to say you still have that card, probably in your deck." Joey inquired.

"Not exactly, Joey Wheeler," Shinobi answered. "I use the reprints of the card itself, just not the original from Solara." Shinobi tapped a small metal sheet on his chest uniform, directly over his heart. "Let's just say I keep the original close to my heart. I even keep a pendant to put it in when I'm in normal clothes, you've seen Kaiba wearing the same."

"Oh, you mean that card-shaped pendant he keeps with Mokuba's picture." Tea spouted out.

"Right, anyway, are we ready to continue?" Shinobi retorted. "You want to keep going on anyway."

Maximus asked. "Yeah, I might as well, I'm about done anyway." Shinobi responded. "So now, anyway I arrived in Aomori to start my search for this man Solara spoke of, this Kyosuke Toshiro. I figured I'd try a few local sources, my family name was good for something right? Not too much in the beginning, but I met one who thought he knew of the surname around there. He pointed me in a direction and I had nothing but to go for it. He said to try to Buddha Shrine of Aomori, stating that I could probably locate him once I go there; apparently everyone frequents there often for spiritual essence of the place, and he was likely to be known there by someone. Besides, maybe I could use a little spiritual guidance myself. The shrine was beautiful, with a garden pond, a huge copper statue, and a grand shrine tower. I went to the main temple to speak with the Priest, the person most likely to know the most about the "going-on's." The priest was easy to find, just on the inside, waiting to meet with any of the patrons. Before I could even speak, the priest turned around and said,

"I already know what you're here for, my son."

I was shocked to hear this, but I stayed quiet.

"Honestly, you didn't expect to walk around town calling out such an important name without attracting notice." He said

"I'm sorry to impose, sir, but if you know who I'm looking for, you must know where I can find him." I asked as humbly as I could.

"Is that a question or a statement?" he said, answering my question with another. "Do even you know who you're looking for, my son?" I had an ominous chill over my body, a feeling of agitation with a taint of impatience, feeling like he was playing with me; I held steadfast. "It was a question, sir" I answered. "But no, I don't really know who or really why I'm looking for this man." That was the truth. I really didn't, only that it was Solara's last instruction.

"Sir, this is just something I must do. It's important for what I must do." I retorted quickly before he could respond.

"Don't get overzealous, how do you expect to fight the Hunters if you don't have the patience to gain what you need to do it?"

How on earth did he know that? Did he know me? Was he one of the Hunters? A multitude of questions had flown thought my hyperactive mind, but that came to a halt when he slipped his hand into his robe, and flashed a folded piece of paper. I already knew what it was; he didn't have to speak, and the look on my face translated my thoughts perfectly. I simply accepted the paper from his hand and opened the folds. It was indeed a letter.

"It is amazing how quickly mail travels across the planet now-a-days" he said with aged humor in his voice, as I begin to read.

The letter, without going into much detail, was pretty standard fare; it was from Solara writing about sending me over for training that she couldn't give me herself, meaning my coming here was her intention all along, including the card she gave me.

"I assume you have your gift with you, you can't begin without It." he queried.

I reached in my jacket pocket, and pulled the silk wrapped parcel. I had but to remove the covering and reveal the card inside. He nodded his head in positive reply. It was obvious now who this guy was. This Buddhist Priest, this old man before me, was the Kyosuke Toshiro.

Apparently, this old man was a retired sensei of the Arts. Solara, having no direct connection under the Monastery, went to find herself also. She somehow find herself in Japan, where they met, and the Master saw her potential and trained her himself. The connection between teacher and student is strong indeed. If anything, he didn't hesitate to start me the same way, if for no other reason then Solara had sent me. I couldn't complain. A few days later, he instructed me to meet me him at a remote location somewhere in the forests south of town, just around Hakkoda Mountains. He was, of course, waiting for me early. 

"Today is only the beginning of the next step in your journey." He said as soon as I arrived. "You have a long way to go, but I feel you will succeed, if you apply yourself. "I only will ask for one important thing during your training, that you place absolute trust in what and how I teach you. Can you give me that? He asked in a very calm but strong voice.

I straightened up and spoke in as clear a voice as I ever could, "Yes, Sensei."

He smiled at this. He turned around and picked up two small boxes and one medium sized box, stacked on top of one another, and then turned back toward me holding the boxes out toward me.

"Take these three boxes from me please." He requested. I did as he asked. "For your training, you shall spend half your day training your body and your spirit, most of which with me. The other half of your day will be spend training your mind, which you shall do with what's in those boxes." He stated. "That larger box is your uniform during your training. You look smart enough to realize what's in those other smaller boxes by now. Tomorrow you start your physical training, but for tonight we shall discuss the content of those boxes in farther detail and you will decide how you will use what you have been given." He gestured for me to follow, and he led me to my staying quarters.

"Minimalist" wasn't the word to describe it, but that was a strong candidate. He instructed me to make myself and he would call for me once he made preparations. He also made sure to tell me to bring the boxes when he came.

"I guess he's not much for repeating himself." I thought to myself. "That sounds very familiar indeed."

However, he instructed me against opening the boxes until later on. I simply did what I was told, then sat down to relax. I took out the card again, "Angel's Gift", and studied it for a moment. It was a picture of a radiant golden-hair angel, wearing a light green celestial robe; she was holding out her hands and what looked something like a white imageless card floating out from them, not in an escapist manner, more like she was bestowing it out. An angel bestowing a blessed gift on a deserving person. I wasn't sure if I was even deserving of this gift at that moment, not after thinking about how I got it in the first place. I was tempted to open one of the boxes, but I didn't have to wait long anyway.

Sensei Toshiro came back, silently prompting to follow him again. He led me to a small chamber shrine, deeper into the forest. It was like the kind you see in those old kung-fu movies. Inside, we sat down and he asked me to lay the boxes both in front of me.

"Please open the first small box now and I will explain." He requested.

I did as I was told; I placed the first box on my lap and removed the lid. Inside there was a familiar sight, more cards, sealed under glass, exact in design to my "Angel's Gift". I looked up toward him, and he started to speak.

"Those cards are part of an ancient game, probably as old as legend. The game is called "Duel Monsters" in your tongue. Some played for leisure, some for sport. Some use it for other reasons however. The people you fight against use the game as a weapon, fueling a secret war only few know of and fewer have the power to end."

"And that's my true mission, right?" I asked. "To bring an end to this fight."

He nodded in positive reply.

"So how are these cards, and this game, supposed to be our weapons?" I inquired. "Why can't we fight them directly, instead of with paper?"

He smirked, and with a face like a parent before answering an 8 year old said "Not everything is that simple, direct force can sometimes be the worse possible thing to do." "You can fight each Hunter you come across, and eventually be defeated, and all you've done is burn your energy away. You've only wasted your time, and failed utterly for it." Sensei said boldly. "The leader of the Eternal Hunters is powerful, but he's not invincible. Yet even so to fight him head on is impossibility. You see when you fight, you must do so using their weapons against them. So that brings us to these cards, I will teach you how to play, but you will have to choose what you will fight with. So that brings us to the boxes."

I took another look down at the small box on my lap. There were 10 cards, and each was turned face down, still under a sheet of glass.

"I'll tell you now, each of those cards, baring the image of a creature." He continued. "I want you to sense out one of them and choose it without looking at it or any of the others. Once you make your choice, it is yours while you remain under my guidance."

I looked down again, I thought of all this as a strange ritual just for a card, but I obeyed. I sat the box off of my lap, and reached my hand over; then I closed my eyes, and focused. I didn't know what I was looking for, or feeling for. Then something struck me, I felt sparkling warmth over one of them. I definitely didn't expect that. I decided not to think about it and just lunged at it.

"Good, good, now what was it, I wonder?" he asked with elation.

I flipped the card toward him without looking at it myself.

"Well, isn't that interesting you would pull the "Thousand-Eyes Restrict!!"

I turned the card around to look at it. It was different then what I expected. The picture was of a very grotesque-looking monster, with eyes all over its body. It was set on a purple background, with a paragraph of text underneath it; two numbers were on the bottom at the edge of the card, "ATK 0/ DEF 0." Now I don't know this game, but I'd expect 0 ATK to be a bad thing usually.

"This card is perfect for you knowing what I know of you." Sensei suggested.

"I should explain what I mean. At a glance it's very weak. But this is a high deception, for it's actually extremely powerful if used with skill. It can adapt and maintain control in numerous situations. It can stupefy many enemies with its wiles, and even turn an enemy into an ally. Yet all the while, only using its power to fill emptiness inside which may never really be filled. Does any of this sound familiar?"

"I guess you've got me pegged, right."

"Now hand me the other 9 cards without looking at them." He demanded.

I again did as he asked. He shuffled the 9 cards in his hands, and then he fanned them out and held them out toward me. "Now from my hands, I want you to choose 4 more, and those will be yours both in training and as you see fit. And don't worry; I won't scare you this time." He finished. I felt them out again, and did picked my four. "This time I pulled some more normal looking creatures, D.D. Warrior Lady, Tsukuyomi, White Magician Pikeru, and something that caught my eye quickly… Dark Paladin. "Now that you have some first creatures, you're free to go through the 2nd box to pull cards to build a deck with, and we'll officially start your training." He said. The rest of the night was spend explaining the game in detail, building a deck, and discussing various other subjects, including my enemies in the Hunters. At some point, we finally retired for the night, to continue full training regiment in the morning.

I spend about 12 weeks with Sensei Toshiro. His training was quite intense; I learned that Sensei Kyosuke Toshiro was a retired master of the Arts, primarily the "Ken no Gijiuindo" art of Ninjitsu. To my knowledge, "Ken no Gijiuindo" means "sword of the false-wind." I guess that means using deception and illusion with skill as a weapon. It made a great deal of sense considering how he was training me, both physically and in Duel Monsters. I made a great deal of progression, he was very proud, but he kept suggesting I was always holding back. After weeks of training, I'd still never been able to beat him once. Though I still was growing better and better as time progressed. I found myself using Solara's card more then other of the others; except for Thousand-Eyes Restrict, which eerily seemed to work for me just as much. After 11 weeks, I finally found something that allowed me victory against my master. The Dark Paladin was quickly becoming my champion, and I finally beat Sensei. He couldn't have been prouder. At that point, he insisted there was nothing else he himself could teach me; that I would have to continue my training on my own, through the events of my life. He had become like a father to me, so I wasn't keen on leaving, but I knew I had I promised to trust his words. One week later, I packed up yet again, ready to get on my path to my destiny. On the day I was to leave, he approached me; he almost looked like he had a tear in his eye.

"My son, you are probably one of the finest students I've ever had, and probably my last in my old age." Sensei said to me. "So with this, and the light of your gravely important mission, I have something to give you." From beneath his robe, he pulled out another card, wrapped in the same red silk as Solara's card. "Can I look at this now, or am I supposed to wait?" I asked with a humorous undertone.  
"Your training with me is done, your training in life is only beginning. So as of now, I am your friend, not your Sensei; so do with the card as you wish, but I think you should be most deserving of that prize, "Shirogane" Phoenix." "Shirogane, what does that means, you haven't called me that before?" I asked him.  
"The word is very old Japanese for silver, silver is usually the color of justice; so I guess I'm calling you the "Phoenix of Justice" I laughed in agreement, and I removed the silk from the card; my heart skipped a beat, I didn't know why but I felt something from this card. It was called "Phoenix God of Nephthys," "Phoenix huh" I thought to myself, I knew this card would be something powerful to me, and I knew I was ready to go forward now. I finished my goodbyes, and headed back off on my journey yet again. Most of my time was spent collecting cards, furthering training and techniques in the arts and Duel Monsters, and tracking down the Hunters. Eventually, my journey led me back to the States and to the tournament where I ran into my brothers-in-arms. The rest you already know of by now.

"So I guess you dueled somebody famous too, right? Joey asked. "Anyone we know of?"

"I was tracking down a paper trail for a man who I supposedly providing supplies to the Hunters." Shinobi began "It led to of all people, Pegasus." I was attempting to get an answer out of him. It turned out a man working for Industrial Illusions was indeed working as a front-man for the Hunters. Pegasus himself helped me flush him out. As a reward, he agreed to duel me.  
He said that I was one of the most worthy people to ever take up this game" That and I think he liked the fact I love the Thousand-Eyes Restrict as much as he did. I almost wish I could have trained under him too, a very distant almost that is."

"YOU BEAT PEGASUS!!!! WOW!!" Joey, Yugi, Tea, and Tristian all exclaimed at the same time.

"Well, I can see now that a duel with you should be interesting at least; are you ready to go then?" Yugi posed. "Oh, Yugi, I told you a story, we shared a moment, now you want to kick my butt," Shinobi responded. "…and I thought we were friends now. Ok, then, let's get this party started!!"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Shinobi vs. Yugi

"Well then Shinobi, I won't keep you waiting any longer." Yugi said. "Let's do this." With that both Yugi and Shinobi climbed up to their respective places on the dueling platform. Their Life Points were both set to 8000.  
"Since you're the visitor, I'll be nice and let you go first." Shinobi said.   
"Very well." Yugi answered back. "I'll start off by playing my Pot of Greed and drawing two more cards. Then I'll set three cards face down on the field and set one monster in defense mode. That will end my turn."  
Shinobi very calmly and slowly drew his card. "Wow!!" he said, you must have read my mind or something. Cause I play Pot of Greed also. I also set one monster face down, but unlike you, I'm going to set 4 cards down." Shinobi paused. He then looked at the cards he had just set do double-check them. After about a minute or so he said, "OK, you may go forth."

"I don't know guys." Joey said. "I think ole Shinobi's starting to play head games with Yugi by copying his moves. Don't let him creep you out."  
Yugi drew. "Now I'll flip my Magician of Faith and take back my Pot of Greed. Now I activate the Trap card; Spell Absorbing Life." Once activated a flash of white light shone over the arena, forcing Shinobi's face down monster to be revealed. It was known as Hand of Nephthys a small female wizard wearing the headdress of a winged creature. Also Yugi's Life Points increased to 8800. "Spell Absorbing Life forces all face down monster to flip face up, plus for every effect monster on the field I gain 400 Life Points." Yugi said

Shinobi didn't seem too phased to have his monster revealed. "Very Well then, do as you please to my Hand." He said  
"I will." Yugi said, "I now sacrifice my Magician of Faith to Summon Dark Magician Girl." As the small Magician of Faith faded out, the familiar Dark Magician Girl replaced her. "Now I activate Mystical Space Typhoon and I shall destroy the face down card closest to your deck." At this the same storm like cloud that Maximus had created in his duel with Joey reappeared and worked towards Shinobi's card. The Storm destroyed the card but once it had done so a large stone coffin, similar to one used in ancient Egypt appeared on the field facing Yugi. As the lid opened Yugi could see nothing but blackness.

"That Yugi, is a nifty little card called Dark Coffin." Shinobi stated. "It works so well because it does not need to be activated to work. Instead it automatically activated whenever it gets destroyed. Forcing my opponent into a rather distressing choice. You can either drop a card from your hand, or lose a monster on your field. The choice is yours alone but choose wisely."  
Yugi looked over the cards in his hand then on his field. After a minute he showed Shinobi a Dark Magician from his hand. Yugi then discarded the Magician to the Graveyard.  
"My Dark Magician Girl now gains 300 Attack points giving her a total of 2300 since my Dark Magician is now in the Graveyard." Yugi said. "But I can change that with this. I now play Sage's Stone. It allows me to summon my Dark Magician from the Graveyard." A circle of magic runes appeared next to Dark Magician Girl. A beam of light shot out from the circle and the Dark Magician just discarded was now at her side.

"Now Dark Magician Girl, attack his Hand of Nephthys." Dark Magician Girl raised her magic staff and released a burst of energy and Shinobi's monster. Dark Magician Girl's 2000 Attack points easily cut through the 600 defense points of the Hand of Nephthys, destroying it. "Now Dark Magician, attack directly" Yugi shouted. His Magician raised his staff, pointed it at Shinobi and fired a second blast directly at him. Shinobi was knocked back a step by the blast as 2500 Life Points were subtracted from his total. He was down to 5500.

"Good Yugi." Shinobi said, "Don't show me any mercy. The Hunters don't plan on showing mercy to anyone. Look at what they did to Solara."  
"Hmmmm, looks like Yugi's still got what it takes." Tea said, "Get him Yugi!!!" She cheered.  
Maximus and Horus in the meantime were simply watching quietly, making occasional remarks only to each other.  
'You don't think Shinobi's going to hurt him too badly do you?" Maximus asked  
"I never know with him." Horus replied. "He's a great duelist, but he might be too good for his own good if you know what I mean."

Meanwhile Yugi continued "I'll conclude my turn by playing Pot of Greed and drawing two more cards."  
"My move eh?" Shinobi said. He drew into his card. He looked at it for a minute or so before proceeding. "Let's see how you handle this." He began. "I'll start by summoning Sangan to the field in attack mode." Sangan was a small furry, three-eyed creature that looked like something a child would dress as for Halloween. "Next I play Call of the Haunted and reviving my Hand of Nephthys." Shinobi's monster reappeared on the field as a gravestone appeared and a mist appeared in front of it. "And now we let the fun begin…  
"Not so fast Shinobi" Yugi interrupted "I activate Torrential Tribute. This will destroy all monsters on the field, so you won't be having fun yet."  
"Or so you think?" Shinobi answered with a devious smile. "I still get to activate my Hand's Special ability. By sacrificing it along with my Sangan I can immediately summon from my deck The One…. The Only… The Phoenix God of Nephthys!!!!"

"How can he do that?" Joey asked, "Isn't his monster going to be washed away?"  
"Yes it is," Maximus began "but under the Advanced rules there is a rule known as Priority. I don't quite get all of it but it says that if you summon a monster with a special ability, that ability can be activated immediately upon summoning and your opponent cannot prevent this unless your opponent can negate the summoning with the proper card. Basically what will happen now is Yugi's Torrential Tribute will activate, destroying all monsters, but not until AFTER Shinobi can use the Hand's ability to summon the Phoenix."

Sure enough, Maximus's words were 100 on the money. Shinobi's two monsters vanished and in there place was the Phoenix. It was a large bright yellow- bird like creature with both wings and arms. The Feathers on its head glowed with fire. The Phoenix did not have much time to make a proper introduction, as the flooding waves of Torrential Tribute washed it away, along with Yugi's two Magicians.  
"Pity," Shinobi said, "My Phoenix was washed away before she could say hello. Oh Well, She'll be back Yugi, so be ready. In the meantime with Sangan's effect I can search my deck for a monster with 1500 Attack Points or less. I think I'll choose Fushi No Tori. That should be all for now. Go forth Yugi."

Yugi drew his card. He mulled over his options for a moment. This duel was a fierce seesaw battle just like Joey's. He needed to stay calm and focused. "I'll place one more card face down and end my turn."  
As Shinobi drew his card the arena began to rumble. Suddenly a pile of ashes appeared on Shinobi's field. The ashes erupted in a blazing fire, and out of the fire emerged the Phoenix God of Nephthys once again.  
"Like any other Phoenix, this one can revive itself after being destroyed by card effects." Shinobi said. "Not even Death itself can hold down a Phoenix for with every death, the Phoenix has the power to restore life. But that's not the worst part of this card. The real fun comes from the Ashes of the Inferno."  
Once the fires died down, the burning embers that remained rained down from the sky, burning holes through all the Magic and Trap cards on the field until they were destroyed.

"Yes, the Phoenix has returned and her wrath has rained from the sky." Shinobi declared.  
"Whoa, Man!!" Tristian said. 'This is bad his Phoenix is indestructible and has a nasty side effect when it comes back."  
Meanwhile on the platform as the magic and Trap cards were destroyed, Yugi saw two more coffins appear facing him.  
"Looks like you have no monsters this time Yugi." Shinobi said. "Guess you'll have to drop those two cards you're holding." Yugi sighed. The two cards he held were his Buster Blader and a Polymerization magic card. He quietly dropped them off in the graveyard.  
"Now to really get the party going," Shinobi said, "I'll summon Fushi No Tori in Attack Mode." Fushi No Tori was a smaller looking Phoenix. It only had wings and no arms. It's attack strength was 1200 points, exactly half of the Larger Phoenix's 2400.  
"Great, another Phoenix monster." Joey said, "He must really like those things." Shinobi heard Joey make this comment. He looked over at Joey and glared at him menacingly. Shinobi's voice rang out in Joey's head through the power of the Millennium Pendant "Oh Really Mr. Wheeler, it took you THIS long to figure that out?"

"Now Fushi No Tori, Attack him" At this the bird lunged forward and plunged it's beak into Yugi's chest. He lost 1200 Life points leaving him with 7600. At the same time Shinobi's Life Points increased from 5500 to 6700.  
"My Fushi No Tori's ability increases my Life Points by the same amount that it takes from you." Shinobi stated. "Now my Phoenix God, ATTACK!!!"  
The Phoenix reared its head back and spread its wings and arms fully. It then pulled its wings forward and released a flaming blast directly at Yugi, stripping him of another 2400 Life Points, leaving him at 5200.

"Stay strong up there Yugi" Tea shouted.  
"Don't let him play games with you up there. Keep focused" Joey added  
Shinobi continued, "Continuing on to my Second Main Phase…Let me see here, I'll place one more card face down. At my End Phase, Since Fushi No Tori is a Spirit Monster it now returns to my hand. Very Well then, you may go."  
Yugi drew his card for his turn. His face glistened with hope. "This is my best chance to turn this around." He said. "I'll activate Premature Burial by Paying 800 Life Points and return my Buster Blader to the field." As Yugi's Life Points dropped to 4400 the ground began to quake once again and out of the arena floor emerged the warrior known as Buster Blader. He was a large knight dressed in full plate armor, and wielded and extremely large sword. At 2600 Attack points, it was enough to destroy the Phoenix.  
"Attack his Phoenix" Yugi ordered. His Buster Blader lunged forward and delivered an overhead slash that struck the Phoenix right where the neck meets the body. The Phoenix screamed in pain before shattering to pieces. Shinobi lost 200 Life Points leaving him with 6500. "I'll end my turn." Yugi said

Shinobi silently drew his card. "Oh my baby." He said "It seems this always comes to me when I need it. I'll play my good old Graceful Charity. I now draw 3 cards and discard 2 afterwards." He drew three more cards and looked at his had for a moment. "Now I shall discard Element Saurus and Roc from the Valley of Haze. And since Roc was discarded from my hand, it's special ability kicks on returning it to the deck." Shinobi picked up his Roc and reshuffled it back into the deck.  
"Hmmmm now what to do?" Shinobi said. " I know, I'll set down these three cards, and place this Monster face-down on the field. Go Forth"

Yugi could feel things turning in his favor now. His draw added to his feelings of confidence. "I summon The Dark Hex Fusion to the field." He said. Dark Hex Fusion was a blob of living matter with a deep red glow surrounding it. It only had 1000 Attack Points but Yugi had other plans.  
"Now I activate The Dark's ability, by sacrificing it along with Buster Blader, I can fuse together the two monsters without the aide of Polymerization and summon Dark Paladin. The Blob and Buster Blader merged together and formed a new creature, Dark Paladin. This was usually a fusion of Dark Magician and Buster Blader but the Dark served as a substitute. Dark Paladin had the face and cap of Dark Magician, but his robes were reinforced with plate armor. Instead of a wizard staff he held an extremely large sword, easily 10-15 feet in length. His attack power was 2900.  
"Go Dark Paladin, Dark Energy Slash" Yugi exclaimed. Dark Paladin raised his sword over his head and swung at Shinobi's face down monster card.  
"I don't think so. Activate Waboku" Shinobi responded. At this a group of hooded figures appeared in front of Dark Paladin and spoke in an unintelligible language. The then vanished. Dark Paladin continued his attack but the words of the figured prevented him from destroying the monster, it only flipped it face- up and revealed another Hand of Nephthys.  
"Fine" Yugi said "But on my next turn I will destroy that thing. Go Ahead."

Shinobi drew. "Once again my Phoenix shall rise from the ashes." He said, "Trouble is this time she'll need some assistance. That's where MY Premature Burial comes in handy." Shinobi's Life Points dropped to 5700 and the Phoenix rose from the floor just as Yugi's Buster Blader did earlier. Yugi could have prevented this by using Dark Paladin's Special ability and discarding a card from his hand, but he had no cards in his hand to do so.  
"Next I'll play the trap Assault on Goblin Headquarters." Shinobi began "By Destroying my Hand of Nephthys I can force you to drop another two cards from your deck." The Hand shattered and the shards rained towards Yugi's deck. They struck the top 2 cards and Yugi was forced to discard Diffusion Wave Motion and Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts.  
'Go ahead my friend." Shinobi said

Yugi drew. He had a feeling that Shinobi was planning a trap for him. Fortunately for Yugi he drew Heavy Storm. This would destroy all the Magic and traps on the field. Yugi knew the Phoenix's revival would kick on, but he had no choice.  
"I'll play Heavy Storm and destroy all Magic and traps on the field." Yugi said. As his card activated a fierce gale wind began blowing across the arena. Both Yugi and Shinobi held onto the edges of the platform.  
"I hate to disappoint you Yugi, but my Phoenix will not be dying anymore this duel." Shinobi interrupted." I'll stop Heavy Storm with Solemn Judgment. Sure it costs me half my Life Points but hey, it's only Life Points, and I do enjoy being a blood-letter."  
At this Shinobi's Life Points dropped to 2850 and three robed figures appeared on the field. One of the figures was an old man, a Judge of some kind from Ancient times by the looks of his robe and long beard. The three all waved their hands and the storm ceased immediately. The three figures then vanished just as they appeared.

"Oh I'm just getting warmed up Yugi." Shinobi said. He began to dance around on his platform as though in a boxing match and preparing to deliver the knockout blow. "Now I'll play Scapegoat" Shinobi said. And 4 Sheep appeared surrounding the Phoenix. The Sheep had their eyes closed and looked harmless. Each sheep had zero Attack and Zero Defense.  
"Now!" Shinobi said. "I'll activate D. Tribe. This turns all my monsters into Dragons for the rest of the turn." At this, the four Sheep grew Dragon horns and small dragon wings. The Phoenix also developed dragon style wings.  
"Is he Nuts??" Tristian exclaimed "Yugi's monster gets Stronger when Dragons are on the field." Dark Paladin's Sword glowed a dark red and his attack power grew 500 points for each dragon on the field. Raising him from 2900 to a whopping 5400 points. 

Meanwhile Maximus and Horus were silent. They both had seen this trick before.  
"I cannot believe he's about to do this." Maximus said  
"Believe it" Horus said. "And Yugi won't know what hit him."

"Well Shinobi, since you've made my Dark Paladin even stronger I don't see how you can possibly stop me now." Yugi said, "Attack his Phoenix!!" Dark Paladin raised his sword once again and swung at the Phoenix. Shinobi laughed.  
"I told you not to hold back Yugi." He began "And what do you do??? You hold back. Otherwise you'd have seen my trap coming a mile away. Activate Reverse Trap!!!!"  
Reverse Trap takes all Attack and Defense increases to monsters and switched them to decreases for one turn and vice versa. Thus Dark Paladin now lost 500 points for every dragon instead of gaining 500. His Attack Strength plummeted from 5400 all the way to 400. His Sword merely bounced off of the Phoenix's body. The Phoenix, having felt something strike it, raised its arm up and dusted itself off causally. It then looked at Dark Paladin with a menacing glare and proceeded to blast a stream of fire in his face. Dark Paladin was destroyed and Yugi lost 2000 Life Points. He now had 2400 remaining. At this Yugi realized he was beaten. He had no cards left on the field or in his hand.

"This duel is yours Shinobi. I end my turn." He said

Shinobi drew. Without hesitation he ordered the Phoenix to attack. The blast knocked Yugi back several feet. He lost all 2400 of his Life Points. The duel was over and the projectors turned off. Both players descended the platform, met in the center of the floor.  
"You are as good as they claim Shinobi" Yugi said, "I gave it my best shot though."  
Shinobi looked at him "Your best was not good enough this time." He said. And do realize that I wanted you to give me all you have so that you will be prepared to fight properly should you encounter those animals, The Eternal Hunters."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The Hundred Million Weapons

"We want to help you guys out." Yugi said. "Your cause seems worthy and you look like you guys could use some extra support against these Eternal Hunters."  
"Yeah! You Saints are pretty devoted to Duel Monsters and believe in the forces of good. I'll help out any way I can." Joey added  
"That is truly appreciated." Horus said, "We could use a couple of virtuous people such as you to help us. But first things first, I need to see your decks."  
Yugi and Joey each handed their decks to Horus. He first took Yugi's deck in one hand and fanned out the cards so that he could examine each of them. After about one minute he handed the deck back to Yugi and did the same to Joey's deck. When he handed Joey his deck back he turned and asked Maximus and Shinobi to huddle with him.

"I think we should." Horus said. "They look like they are devoted enough to want to help us fight the Hunters. Trouble is we need to help them before they can help us. We'd better show them 'The Room'. Maximus and Shinobi looked at each other, then at Horus. They all nodded their heads together and Shinobi and Maximus both walked off together towards a corner of the basement. Meanwhile, Horus addressed the group.  
"We'll let you join us." He said "But with those decks you guys won't stand much of a chance against the Hunters…  
"So what are we supposed to do then?" Joey interrupted  
Horus continued, "Well fortunately for you, we have the solution. Follow me." Horus began to walk over to the corner that Maximus and Shinobi went to earlier. Yugi, Joey, Tea, and Tristian all followed. They arrived at what appeared to be a doorway closed with steel sliding door.

"Is everything good to go?" Horus asked  
"Yep," Maximus replied. At this Shinobi walked over to a wall panel next to the door with two switches on it. He flicked one switch into the "On" position and the door began to slowly open. On the other side was a small brightly lit room. When the door was about halfway up Horus pounded his fist against the door twice and said "Have Fun in there!" As the door opened up fully the gang could see that the entire room was lined with countless shelves of Duel Monsters cards. Horus flicked the second switch on and some soft guitar music began to play over the speakers inside the room.

"Yugi!! Look at all this. We hit the jackpot here!" Joey exclaimed. He had never seen such a collection of cards before.  
"This is incredible!" Yugi said "We could make our decks so much stronger after this."  
As Tea and Tristian looked into the room, their eyes were opened wide and their jaws dropped. Both of them were speechless at the sight of the room. Tea then entered and proceeded to browse the shelves.

Yugi and Joey were both looking at all of the shelves and picking out a few cards they felt would be helpful for their decks. One card in particular struck Yugi's attention.  
"Hey Horus, I need to ask you something?" he said  
"What do you need?" Horus answered  
"I found this card. It's called Dedication Through Light and Darkness. It says it allows you to summon The Dark Magician of Chaos, but I can't seem to find it."

"You mean this?" Shinobi said. He then pulled out a card from one of the shelves and handed it to Yugi. Sure enough it was the Dark Magician of Chaos that the card Yugi found could summon. Yugi read over thoroughly what the effect text on the card read so he knew what it could do.  
"WOW!!" Yugi shouted, "This is awesome! Thank you"  
"Not a problem. It should help you put more of a focus on your Dark Magicians and   
summoning them out faster." Shinobi said. "You might also have to take out some of your old favorites in order to make room for some of the stuff you're receiving today. It's just like Alchemy. You have to give up something before you can make something that is stronger."

Meanwhile Maximus approached Joey. He noticed that Joey was eyeing up a copy of Gearfried the Swordmaster.  
"You like Gearfried I see." Maximus stated  
"Yeah, There's something about his story that I find touching. A man willing to cause considerable harm to himself with that suit of armor, just to protect the people around him." Joey responded  
Maximus closed his eyes for a minute as he thought. When he opened them he walked over and picked up a card.  
"If you were to revamp your deck to try and make Gearfried the Swordmaster the central monster, I bet you'd be really good." Maximus said, "Here, try and find cards that will help you summon out Swordmaster. Also look for good Equip cards for the deck. You'll need them." Maximus then handed Joey the card that he had taken from the shelf. "Here, try this one. It will help you."

Joey looked over the card. It was an Equip Magic card called Sword of Dragon's Soul.  
"Gee! Thanks Dan! I mean Maximus!! I'll keep this thing handy. Never know when I might need it."  
"Anytime Joey." Maximus replied "What would also help you a lot are monsters that get good benefits when you place equipment on them. I've got it!!!!" Maximus reached into a box of cards and began to search frantically. After about a minute he pulled out three copies of a card called Armed Samurai-Ben Kai.  
"One of our students was experimenting with this thing about a week ago. If used properly it can be truly devastating to an opponent. In this kind of deck it will work perfectly." Maximus said

Joey looked over the cards and read their effect "So you mean that this thing can attack again and again if I keep equipping it?" he asked  
"Yeah," Maximus said, "It can be quite brutal."  
"Thanks again." Joey said  
"Once again, you're welcome" Maximus replied.

Meanwhile Tea was browsing the shelves. Although she was looking very intently, she was not selecting any cards.  
"Is something wrong Tea?" Horus asked  
"Yeah." She said, "I'm not sure what kind of deck I should build." She pulled out her own deck and showed it to Horus. "I have a mainly Light and Fairy Deck." She said "But I think I wanna try something different. I just don't feel like Fairies can be much of a threat in this game."  
"I wouldn't say that Tea." Horus said. He motioned her to a shelf along the back of the wall where Horus began showing her rows of Fairy Monsters and Magic Cards to support them.  
"If done correctly Fairies can be absolutely sick." Horus said, "I know a girl who got married recently and as a small wedding gift I helped build her a Fairy Deck. The day after her wedding she and her new husband went to a tournament and she won. Here, take a look at these two Fairies." Horus showed Tea two cards. One was called Guardian Angel Joan, and the other was called Archlord Zerato.  
"These are the two best Fairies I know of." Horus said, "This shelf should have pretty much everything you'll need to make this deck work. Also if you need any help with the deck, feel free to come back. We'll be more than happy to help you." Horus then began looking through one of the shelves. He pulled out a card, flipped it into the air and caught it as it fell. He then handed it to Tea.

"Try this." Horus said, I have this feeling that you will know when to use this card."  
Tea looked it over. "Gift of the Martyr. It looks useful, but how would I know when to use this thing?"  
"I just have this feeling that something will happen and this card will get you out of trouble." Horus said  
"Tea you might want to take his advice." Maximus said, "If I know Horus as well as I think I do, his hunches are rarely wrong."

"Thanks Horus." Tea said. The gang stayed inside the card room for a good half hour going through the shelves. When they were finally finished they all filed out of the room. Horus then turned both switches off. The guitar music stopped and the steel door closed back down. Yugi, Joey, and Tea all showed off all of the cards they had taken from the room.   
"You guys are absolutely sure we can just take these cards?" Yugi asked. "It seems like you're losing an awful lot of good stuff here."  
"Relax." Shinobi said "We can always have good old Kaiba front us the money to replace them." At this everyone burst out laughing.  
"Seriously, it's nothing we can't replace." Maximus said  
"That room is our stockpile. We use it specifically for situations such as this." Horus added.  
"Well in that case we greatly thank you for your help." Yugi said, "We really should get going though. It's getting late."  
"Very well then" Horus said, "Feel free to come back whenever you want. If we're not here, just come over to the Rectory. Someone should be over there.  
"Hey Tristian." Maximus said, "How come you didn't take any cards?"  
"I'm only a casual player." Tristian said "I still have a lot to learn about the game before I can join Yugi and Joey in playing."  
"Suit yourself then." Maximus said

Horus led the group back up the stairs to the door. He pulled out his key and opened it again. Another rush of cool air blew in as everyone filed out of the basement. Maximus once again pulled out the small key he used to lock the front doors. This time he inserted the key into the lock of the door and unlocked the doors.  
"Well I guess this is good-bye, for now. Take care Joey." Maximus said  
"You too Maximus. I'm gonna work on this deck and maybe I'll be up for a rematch." Joey said. He held up his opened hand in the air. Maximus slapped him a Hi-Five and Joey walked out towards the car.  
Yugi walked towards Shinobi. He offered Shinobi a handshake. Shinobi waited a few seconds before accepting.  
"Thanks Shinobi." Yugi said. "I hope these cards work for me"  
"As do I." Shinobi said "I also hope that should you ever encounter The Hunters that you'll be better prepared for them after our duel today."  
Yugi then began to walk out to join Joey. Tristian walked out along with Yugi.

Finally Tea approached Horus  
"Thank you for all you three have shown us today." She said. "We'll be back soon."  
"We'll be waiting for you." Horus said. Tea then gave Shinobi a friendly handshake. She turned to Maximus and shook his hand as well. She also gave him a hug. Yugi turned around and saw Tea give Horus a small kiss on the cheek. Tea then left Game Sanctuary and joined her friends as they got back into their car and drove off into the night.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: A Triple Threat

Several days later, halfway across the world, in an ancient temple built into the walls of a valley in Egypt, there was great activity. For this was no ordinary temple, rather this was the main headquarters of The Eternal Hunters.  
Early in the morning, just before sunrise, a dark-robed figure, wearing a hood quickly walked through the dark, torch lit hallways until he reached a set of large wooden double doors. He pounded his fist against the doors three times and heard a voice on the other side say "Enter!"  
The robed figure pushed the doors open and entered a large living chamber. There was a large bed in one corner of the room and a round table with seats surrounding it on the other, as a type of sitting room. All of the furniture had an ancient Egyptian motif to it. In the center of the room stood a tall, slender but muscular man. His facial features looked very Egyptian. His skin was dark, like a native of the area and he was bald. He wore a long Dark Purple cloak with a miniature Millennium Symbol on it. Around his neck was a Pendant that reached down to his chest. Attached to this pendant was a small Mirror that looked so clear it could seeming absorb a looker into another world.  
The hooded figure approached this man. He stopped about 3 feet short of him. He then removed his hood and dropped to one knee bowing his head. "Lord Set." He said

"Venom, what news do you have?" Set asked  
"We found him My Lord. We have found The Red Demon." Venom responded  
Set's face filled with excitement at this news. "Excellent work. Where is he now?" He asked.  
"He is in the Main Audience Chamber My Lord." Venom replied  
"Very well. I'll be along shortly." Set said. Venom then rose to his feet, turned around, left Set's chamber, and preceded to the Main Audience Chamber. Set meanwhile donned a dark blue cape and proceeded to the Chamber himself.

When Set arrived in the small Audience Chamber, he saw several of his men wheeling into the room a large stone slab. This slab had the shape of a human body carved into it, in much the same manner that the coffins of the Pharaohs were designed to look like the actual king inside. The arms were folded over the chest and there were two openings in the stone as if to insert something. When Set saw this slab he was ecstatic.  
"Excellent!! So this is The Red Demon." He said. One of the robed figures, a portly man named Christophe Kaprit, raised his hand as if to ask a question.

"Begging your pardon My Lord, but what exactly is this? And how will it help us defeat Mathias Blackhart?" He asked. Soon several others began to wonder the same question.

Set looked Kaprit directly in the eyes and began to tell what this Red Demon was.  
"The question is not what is this, but rather WHO is this?" Set began. "This is Loki, or as he was also called, The Red Demon. Some time ago, Loki challenged Mathias to a duel where the loser would be entombed in stone forever. Apparently Loki had learned that Mathias was in possession of the Horus Dragons. Loki desired them for himself so he could harness their power. Loki was ill prepared for the power that they possessed and Mathias defeated him. Loki has been like this ever since. He's not dead though. His spirit has been sustaining him all these years. Although I have a feeling that he is not fully human."

"So how shall he assist us My Lord?" Kaprit asked  
"Simple," Set said, "We shall tell him that we aim to assist him in crushing Mathias and his little friends. We shall convince him to join us since we can help him. In return he will allow us to use the power of the Horus Dragons and the Mirror to fully harness the power of the Chaos Realm. Then we will have an army powerful enough to crush anyone who stands against us, and the world will be ours!!! But first things first, we must speak with The Red Demon personally." Set then reached into his robes and pulled out a small dagger. The blade had a strange symbol on it, a type of Early Middle Ages Norse religious symbol. Set placed the dagger, handle-first into one of the slots in the slab. After about 10 seconds an image appeared in the air above the slab. It was a spirit projection of Loki's body. He was tall, approximately 6 feet in height. His body was slender but muscular. He had Golden Blond hair and fire red eyes, eyes that looked like they wanted to set the world on fire. He also had sharp fangs for front teeth and his face looked like one would expect out of a man who wanted to go on a killing spree in a Post Office.

Loki looked around and saw Set and his hunter's all-surrounding the stone slab. "I'm not fully solid, but at last I am able to move freely again." He said. Loki then looked at Set. He could tell that Set was the one that placed the dagger in the statue. Loki's eyes glowed. He looked as if he wanted to strangle Set right then and there.  
"Greetings Loki." Set began "Long have I waited to be in the presence of The Red Demon. I am Set, leader of a sect known as The Eternal Hunters. These are some of my followers. We have been searching for a long time to find you."  
"Why have you given me some of my freedom back?" Loki asked, "Why have you released me?"

"Because we want to help you destroy Mathias Blackheart and his little friends." Set responded. Loki froze at the mention of Mathias's name.  
"Mathias Blackheart." Loki began, rather intensely "I'll never forget that name. It was he who imprisoned me in this statue all those years ago. He shall burn for what he did to me!!!!" As Loki spoke, his words began to pick up even more intensity and anger.

Set spoke up. "He has allies now. Defeating Mathias will not be easy with his allies at his sides. However we too have a desire to crush Mathias. He was my student and he betrayed me. I offered him everything and he abandoned me to go with Elena. If we were to join forces we would be able to crush Mathias and his friends. Once we do so, the power you desire will be yours and the power we desire shall be ours."  
"What power do you speak of?" Loki asked. He seemed reluctant to share the power he sought with another.  
"We seek the inner strength of Mathias Blackheart." Set answered, "If we can harness it, along with harnessing the power of the Dragons the world will be OURS!!!"  
Loki pondered for several minutes. This was a most interesting offer Set was making. Set was offering Loki assistance in defeating Mathias Blackheart as well as a stake in conquering the world. All Loki had to do was trust Set.

"You make a very enticing proposal Mr. What was it again, Set!! That's it! I shall agree to your proposal on two conditions. That you and your Hunters return to the site where you found this statue and search for my Dueling Decks. I left two of them behind. Also, do what you want with his friends, but I want Mathias." Loki said  
"It shall be done. I humbly thank you for your assistance." Set said as he bowed before Loki as a sign of respect. Loki's image began to flicker and fade out. "I'm growing weak. I must rest up and regain my strength in order to prepare for battle." Loki said, as he said this, the image he projected had vanished completely. Loki had retreated back into the statue to rest. Set then called for Venom. The two began to walk side by side out of the Audience Chamber and into another dark, torch lit hallway.

"Everything is going according to plan. Now I shall go and launch the next phase of the plan. You shall be in charge here until I return." Set said  
"Where are you going My Lord?" Venom asked  
"I'm going to pay a visit to Seto Kaiba over at his company's headquarters." Set said, "We could use his assistance as well."  
Venom seemed puzzled. "But Why? Kaiba is a loner." Venom asked, Set then walked up to a small table where he picked up a newspaper. It was the previous day's edition of The New York News. He showed Venom the front page headline:

WORLD CHAMP KAIBA CRUSHED BY UNKNOWN  
The Associated Press  
"Seto Kaiba, the newly crowned World Duel Monsters Champion, was defeated in a convincing fashion, by an unknown duelist who challenged him to a match following Kaiba's victory over archrival Yugi Moto in Saturday's World Championships.

The duel, played at an undisclosed location somewhere in the Western United States, was broadcast over Satellite Television and viewed by approximately 45 million in America and countless millions across the globe. In the duel, the mystery duelist easily handled every move Kaiba threw at him. The main monster used by the challenger was a set of cards involving large Silver, hawk-like Dragon that could stop Magic Cards on command. When asked if such cards were real, a rep for Industrial Illusions only stated that yes, such a card does exist.

Kaiba was unable to mount any type of offense against his opponent and with only 200 Life Points remaining, actually conceded the duel to his opponent. Such a move has never been seen out of Mr. Kaiba before. The opponent, who referred to himself only as 'Horus' is widely believed to be one of a trio of shadowy duelists known as The Saints, a group that trains diligently in Duel Monsters and only surfaces to issue challenges to high profile champion duelists. To date, The Saints have never lost in one of these challenges and it looks like now they can add Seto Kaiba to their list of people they have defeated."

"Kaiba's defeat at the hands of Mathias is all over the world." Set said. "No one has ever done to him what Mathias has done. I am going to see him to try and get him to join us. I'll tell him that we can restore his reputation and help him get even with Mathias and his friends for what they did to him. But in return we'll ask that he help us return to us the Horus Dragons."

"But My Lord, what about Loki?" Venom asked  
"It won't be hard to pry the dragons away from him once we have Mathias's powers." Set responded. "Now leave me. I must prepare for my trip." At this command Venom knelt down for a moment before Set. He then rose and quickly ran off in the opposite direction.

Two days later, Set arrived at Kaiba Corp world headquarters. He was dressed in an all white business suit and carried a black briefcase. He looked as if he was carved out of ivory rather than an actual human being. He entered the building and walked straight to the elevators. He entered one and pressed the button for the top floor, where Seto's office was located. He stepped off the elevator and proceeded to walk up to the secretary's deck. "May I help you?" she asked  
"I have an appointment with Mr. Kaiba." Set told the Secretary. She then pressed a button on her desk to activate her speakerphone into Seto's office.  
"Excuse me Mr. Kaiba, you're 1:30 appointment is here." She said a voice responded back over the speaker, "Good, send him in."  
"Mr. Kaiba is ready for you Sir." The secretary said. Set then walked through the large brass doors that led into Seto's office. His office was what one would expect the office of a CEO to look like. It was brightly lit and decorated with several lavish leather chairs and a couch. Seto's desk was in next to the rear windows and the sun shone in brightly through the large panes of glass. Seto, looked up from his computer monitor to recognize his guest.

"So, you claim to know something about this Horus freak and his crazy little buddies." Seto said. He was still speaking in an arrogant tone despite having his reputation as a champion flushed down the drain by Horus.  
"Yes, I do." Set began "I came here to make you a proposition, one to help you regain your reputation as a champion."  
"I will only reclaim my reputation by beating Horus. Yugi may have beaten me many times before, but he and I always had vicious duels that seesawed back and forth. This guy came along and made me look like a complete chump. I cannot go anywhere without some nobody on the streets calling me a loser." Seto said  
"I know that, and I can help you beat him." Set replied, "but I will need something from you in exchange."  
"And what might that be?" Seto asked his patience was wearing thin  
"I need you to help me reclaim from Horus my rightful property. He was my student once and those dragons were once mine. Horus betrayed me and stole the dragons for himself. I and my associates will help you crush Horus, and all I ask in return is that you help me regain my property."

Seto remained silent for a few moments before speaking up. "Why should I help you? Give me one reason why I should risk whatever remains of my reputation just so you can get back your property. I personally think I'd be better off figuring out how to beat Horus myself. My computers are hard at work analyzing his style and trying to find ways to counter his cards."

Set began to laugh at this comment. "By the time you figure out how to beat his deck, Horus will have built a completely new deck." Set said. "This guy's smart. He wouldn't give you the opportunity to find the weaknesses in one deck without him having a completely different deck to demolish you with. I know you prefer to work alone. I know you are proud of your dueling career and I know you would love nothing more than to reclaim your reputation and crush Horus, and that's what I'm offering you. In return I ask that you help me out a bit. Think of this as both of us getting something out of the deal. I get back my dragons, you get back your reputation and we both get rid of Horus and his friends."

Seto paused for another few moments. "Hmmmmm, very interesting proposal you make. Ordinarily I refuse such proposals because I prefer to do things myself. I take pride in the accomplishments I've made for myself and my company, but in this case however I think I can make an exception. Since we both can't stand that Horus freak it would serve us both better if we worked together to take care of him. Mister, you have a deal"  
"The name is Set." Set said. He then reached out and shook Seto's hand making the partnership official.

"So what do you have in mind Set?" Seto asked "If you claim to have enough flunkies at your side why don't we just go over to their hideout and take these guys out."  
"Patience Mr. Kaiba, patience" Set said trying to calm Seto down. "We need some information first. Where is their hideout?"  
"It's a game shop called Game Sanctuary. From the looks of things I'd say it used to be a church until these freaks bought the place. It's about 10 miles east of Sacramento California." Seto said  
Set stood up for a moment and rubbed his chin with one hand. "Did you see the decks of Horus's two friends?" he asked  
"No." Seto answered, "I dueled Horus first and left right after it was over. As much as I would have liked to see Yugi and Joey get demolished by Horus's little buddies, Shinobi and Maximus I just could not be in there any longer."

Set was now intrigued. "You mean Yugi Moto was there as well?" he asked  
"Him and the rest of his geek patrol." Seto replied  
"This changes things a bit." Set said, "Knowing Horus as well as I do, no doubt he and his friends will attempt to train Yugi and his friends to prepare for the worst. We're going to need someone to get us more information."

Seto seemed annoyed at all the talk about information "Look Set, are we going to take care of Horus and is friends or are we just going to talk about what we know about them? I'm a busy man you know!"  
Set was now annoyed and Seto's arrogance. "Look Mr. Kaiba, we can't just waltz into Game Sanctuary and challenge these guys to duels. They'll mop the floor with us. Horus and his friends are powerful; you have seen this first hand. We need to know what we're up against. So what I think we should do is send in a scout. Someone who can report back to us how these guys play and how we can beat them."

"Do you have anyone in mind?" Seto asked  
"As a matter of fact I do." Set replied "I have some associates out that way who can scout around Game Sanctuary and let us know what we're up against." Set reached into his suit jacked and pulled out a cell-phone. He opened it up and placed a call.  
"Lord Set," The voice on the other end said rather shockingly, "To what do we owe this pleasure?"  
"We've found The Saints." He began "They've been hiding out at a place called Game Sanctuary, about 10 miles east of Sacramento. Send in someone to gather information on their capabilities. As a matter of fact, send in Miguel, he's been looking forward to this for some time now."  
"As you wish Sir." Set then hung up his phone and returned it to his inside jacket pocket.

"Does this Miguel have a reason to look forward to the job?" Seto asked, Set looked Seto right in the eyes and once again sat down and told the story of Miguel.  
"Miguel was once a student of theirs. Something happened that really ticked off Horus and Miguel was expelled from their tutelage. He joined up with me and my associates in hope he could one day get revenge. Unfortunately for us however before they got rid of him they did a number on his mind. Any time he even tried to tell one of us the location of their hideout, he would scream out in pain, shield his eyes and cover his ears. He claimed he could hear Shinobi talking to him telepathically and he could not only see, but feel the fires of Hell and they were burning him to prevent him from talking."  
"I see." Seto said "And he was the only one who knew where they were, but could never talk."  
'Exactly" Set responded. "But now we have the information, and we will soon learn what they are capable of. I must go now, but I will need to speak with you again once Miguel's mission is complete."  
"Keep me informed." Seto said.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: No Mercy

The next day, back at Game Sanctuary, Yugi, Joey, and Tea all arrived. Maximus was minding the counter while Shinobi was busy in the back serving as judge for the weekly Duel Monsters Tournament currently taking place.  
"Hey guys, Good to see you again." Maximus said, he then whispered to the three of them: "Remember, call us by real names, there are customers back there and they can hear us."  
"Sure thing, Dan." Yugi replied. "We're looking for Mathias, have you seen him?"  
"Uhh I think he's downstairs. Yeah! He's downstairs, doing some training."  
Maximus then walked out from behind the counter to bring them downstairs. "Hey Sean!" Maximus shouted across the floor. Shinobi came walking over.  
"I need to bring them downstairs for a minute to see Mathias, can you mind the front for a few minutes?"  
"Well it will be harder to run the tournament from up here, but OK." Shinobi answered. Shinobi then looked up and gave Yugi Joey, and Tea a nod of approval. Maximus then led the three to the big black door.

Maximus pulled out a key from the pocket of his jogging pants and proceeded to unlock the door. That familiar rush of cool air greeted everyone as they proceeded down the stairs to the basement. Horus was on the dueling platform in the middle of a duel. His opponent was a short rather hefty man wearing khaki shorts and a T-Shirt with a tiger on it. The scoreboard showed Horus at 4300 Life Points and his opponent at 2300. Horus was about to begin his turn when he saw Maximus leading Joey, Yugi and Tea into the arena.  
"Well, look's who's come back!" Horus excitedly said "Hey, where's Tristian?"  
"He's sick." Yugi said. "He's got the Flu and wasn't up to coming. He said to tell you guys hello."  
"Well now, that's mighty nice of him. Hope he feels better." Horus said. He then pointed to his opponent "Oh by the way, this guy here is James, James Triton. He's one of our students. He's been living over in the Rectory with us for about a year now. His family was killed in a car accident and he had no place to go. He's coming along quite nicely I might add. He's got a really nifty Beast Deck. But anyway what brings you back here so soon?"

Yugi spoke up "We were hoping that you would help us fine tune our new decks a bit more. They look good but we need to test them against real competition."  
"I just have to finish this duel then I'll be glad to help out." Horus said. He then resumed his turn. "I draw…OK James. How many times do I have to tell you this??? DO NOT MESS WITH MY WARWOLF!!" As he spoke, his voice grew more and more intimidating. James looked scared. 'I play Snatch Steal on your precious Mad Dog of Darkness." Horus said, James's raging mutated dog jumped away from him and onto Horus's side of the field. "Now I sacrifice your doggie and summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level 6!" The dog faded away and was replaced by that familiar silver dragon at its Level 6 form. It spread its wings and screeched loudly.  
Horus smiled. "Isn't that funny, you have 2300 Life Points and Horus has exactly 2300 Attack Points. God I love it when I score an exact kill! Horus! Crimson………….Dusk."

The dragon beat its wings and stirred up a dust cyclone surrounding James. Once big enough the dragon lit the dust on fire and burned away all of James's Life Points. As the projectors turned off, James struggled to his feet and began coughing fiercely.  
Horus scooped up his deck and hopped down. "Relax, he'll be ok." Horus said James slowly gave a thumbs up sign.

"I'd better get back to the counter." Maximus said. He quickly sprinted back up the stairs towards the door. As soon as he opened the door, a hand on the other side pulled it open and Maximus was pushed down the stairs. "YAAAAAHHHH!" He screamed as he rolled down to the bottom of the stairs. Everyone ran to Maximus to check on him. "Dan!!" Horus shouted as he knelt down beside Maximus's side "Are you ok?"

Maximus groaned and grumbled "Oh man that hurt. I think I'll be ok. Just help me up please." Horus and Joey grabbed Maximus's arms and pulled him to his feet. Just then a voice rang out from the top of the stairs. "I'm back Horus, I'm gonna pay you back for what you did to me!" Everyone looked up to see a short, chubby Hispanic-man with a mean look in his eyes. He had on a plain white T-shirt and jeans. He was about the same height as Maximus but about 3 times as wide. If Shinobi were to stand on his shoulders they would form a perfect exclamation point. "So Miguel. You've finally found the courage to show your face here again," Horus said

"Who's this wacko?" Joey asked  
"Oh him?" Maximus began. "Well about two years ago he became a student of ours. He was new and wanted to learn the game. He started off with some promise but he made the mistake of twisting our lessons focused solely on power alone. Then he began running his mouth that he trained with The Saints. He would also tell people 'They're great, they are showing me all sorts of powerful monsters.' Which are both big no-nos. We worry about more than just power, as you both know. Plus we tell all our students to not tell people that they train with us. It helps keep our existence as secret as possible.

"So what happened?" Tea asked  
"Well." Maximus continued "Once we found out he was doing this, we pulled him down here and confronted him. I'll never forget that day:  
'Miguel!' Horus said, "You have been telling people that you train with us. This is unacceptable!'  
'I just want people to know that they can learn about the powerful monsters that work best.' Miguel said  
'We the Saints are worried more about skill than about power.' Horus screamed in his face. I though we had drilled this lesson into you long ago, but apparently we have failed.' Miguel then tried to get in my face, that's when Horus raised up his gauntlet in Miguel's face. "YOU…………..CORNER……………NOW!!!!!" Horus screamed and Miguel was thrown into the corner of the room. We three walked up to him and the real chaos began.

'On your knees peasant!' Horus said raising his gauntlet again in Miguel's face. Miguel fell to his knees at once.  
'You have failed! You are forthwith banished from The Saints!' Horus screamed  
I then looked at him and had my glasses flash. He then saw an image of the fires of Hell burning him. I used so much power in this vision that he actually began to writhe in pain. I told him that if he told anyone that our hideout was here that those flames would come back and burn him ever more severely.  
'Shinobi used his pendant and left a permanent message in Miguel's head. 'If you even think of telling anyone about this hideout, our voices will ring out in our head, and you will feel our wrath.' I could see the intensity in his eyes. It was the same intensity we all had.  
'Now be off with you!' Horus shouted. He then ran upstairs and we haven't seen or heard from him until just now. We let this serve as a reminder to all our students that we take our lessons seriously and that failure will not be tolerated."

As Maximus was telling this story, Miguel slowly descended the stairwell and entered the basement. He stared down Horus for several moments. "I'm much more powerful now and I'm gonna beat you and get my respect back." He said. Miguel's eyes turned towards Tea. He began licking his lips, "OH hey there baby!" Miguel said. "Once I'm done here, I think you and I should go back to my place."  
Tea gave Miguel a look of death. "Yeah Right! Like I'd be seen with a sorry excuse for a person like you." She said. Miguel became even angrier.  
"You disrespect me like that?" He shouted, "Maybe I should teach you a little respect." As Miguel pulled out a dueling deck Yugi stepped in. "Why don't you pick on someone who can handle you."? Yugi said  
Tea pulled Yugi back, "No Yugi." She said with a tone of confidence, "He means to have a war with me, and I aim to please."  
Yugi pleaded with Tea "No!! You could get hurt if you duel him. Please let me do this."  
"No Yugi." Tea said, "The gesture is appreciated but I have to learn to fight my own battles." Tea and Miguel approached the dueling platform and took their places. The projectors turned on and the two began shuffling their decks.

"Baby we ain't got to do this." Miguel said. "Just step down and let me go after Horus and his buddies, then we can have a romantic…"  
"Let's just get this over with." Tea cut in. Their Life Point counters both set to 8000 and they drew their five cards.  
"I'm gonna go first, Cause I'm better." Miguel said. "Ok I'll set these two cards face down and summon Homunculus the Alchemic Being." Homunculus was a strange creature. It had the body of a man but part of its body was red and part was black. It looked as if it was not fully solid. It had 1800 Attack Points

Tea drew her sixth card. "I'll set down one monster in Defense mode and this card face down. Let's see what you've got." She said

"You got it Chica!" Miguel arrogantly proclaimed as he drew. "I'll set down one more card, and I'll set this monster in Defense Mode. Now Homunculus will attack your face down card."  
"Not so fast hot shot!" Tea said. I'll activate the trap Compulsory Evacuation Device and return your monster to your hand." A large launching mechanism grabbed Homunculus and loaded it into a feeding tube. The tube then pointed at Miguel's hand and fired his monster back at it, returning the card to his hand.  
"Not bad, But let's see what you can do now." Miguel said  
Tea drew her next card. "OK First I play Heavy Storm and destroy all your face down cards." Her card activated and a massive windstorm began to swirl around the arena forcing both Tea and Miguel to shield their eyes. Miguel's face down Magic and Traps were all destroyed.  
"I'll activate this now while I still can. Go Scapegoat!" Miguel said and 4 small fluffy sheep appeared on his field. Tea smiled with delight at the sight of the sheep.  
"I never was one to butcher an innocent sheep, but in this case I'll make an exception." Tea said. "I'll sacrifice my monster Kelbeck to summon Airknight Parshath." Her mechanical looking fairy disappeared and was replaced by Airknight Parshath, A monster with the head and torso of a man, but the body and legs of a horse. His Armor gleamed with light and so did his sword. He had 1900 Attack points.

"Airknight, attack a sheep!" Tea ordered. Her knight stood up on its hind legs and prepared its sword. He charged forward and skewered a sheep with his sword. Then ran back to its position. Miguel seemed unphased by the attack, until he saw his Life Points drop to 6100.  
"By my sheep are in Defense mode" he said, "What's up with that?"  
"My Airkinght has the ability to run through defense position monsters and hit your Life Points anyway." Tea proclaimed. "And that's not all, every time he does damage to a player I get to draw a card." Tea drew an extra card. "I'll end my turn by setting one card face down." She said

"Hey, Tea's holding up pretty good against this guy." Joey said, "Get em' Tea!" He cheered  
Yugi's face looked very concerned. He didn't say anything though because he didn't want to break Tea's concentration.  
Meanwhile Miguel drew. "I'll flip up my face down monster, Cyber Jar." He said, His monster, Cyber Jar, appeared. It was a small metallic looking space pod. Its hatch opened up and proceeded to suck up every monster on the field. Once they were all absorbed, the pod self-destructed.  
"You know the drill, show your top 5 cards." Miguel said. He drew into, the magic card Lightning Vortex, the trap, Raigeki Break, and the monsters, Tribe Infecting Virus, DD Warrior Lady, and Chaos Sorcerer. Tea drew into the magic card, Terraforming, and the monsters Kaiser Seahorse, Zolga, Kelbeck, and the second monster Horus showed her, Guardian Angel Joan. Tea summoned her Seahorse, Zolga and Kelbeck to the field while Miguel summoned his DD Warrior Lady and Tribe to the field. 

"Now you see just how much power I really have." Miguel arrogantly proclaimed. "First I'll use Tribe Infecting Virus's ability. By discarding a card from my hand I can destroy all of one type of monster on the field. So I discard Homunculus and destroy all Fairies." At this, Tribe Infecting Virus, which was a cluster of germs that manifested into a bodily form, spread forth and coated Tea's Kelbeck, and Zolga. They both began to choke and gag from the virus and finally shattered. The Virus then reformed on Miguel's side of the field. He began to laugh.  
"And now for the real treat. I remove from my graveyard, Cyber Jar and Homunculus in order to summon forth the Chaos Sorcerer!"  
A portal opened up on Miguel's field. It led into a void that was partially bright with light and black as midnight. Out of this portal stepped a wizard wearing black armored robes. One of his hands held a ball of light and the other held a ball of darkness. This was Chaos Sorcerer.

As the portal was opening, Shinobi came into the basement. He arrived just in time to see the wizard emerge.  
"Chaos!" he said softly. "So Miguel has joined the Hunters." His face showed a look of disdain and contempt as se silently joined his fellow Saints at the base of the platform along side Joey and Yugi.

"Attack her Sea Horse Sorcerer!!" Miguel ordered. His sorcerer waived his arms and shot two beams, one white and one black at Tea's monster. It was destroyed and shattered to pieces. Tea lost 600 Life Points.  
"Now I attack directly with my Virus." Miguel added and the virus fired a cloud of vapor directly at Tea, stripping her of another 1600 Life Points. "And now my DD Warrior Lady will attack." Miguel said. DD Warrior lady was a blonde haired woman, wearing black leather armor that looked like it was from the future. She also had a bright short sword that glowed as she swung it at Tea. Tea lost another 1500 Life points from this attack and she was down to 4300. Tea writhed from the hits of all three attacks.  
"TEA!!!" Yugi screamed as he tried to climb the platform to join Tea, but Horus grabbed him and pulled him away.

"Let it Go man!" Horus shouted as he pulled Yugi away. "This is her fight!"  
Tea slowly recovered and drew. "I play Pot of Greed and draw 2 more cards." She said, "Next I'll set one card face down and activate Call of the Haunted to bring back Kaiser Sea Horse." A tombstone appeared on Tea's field and began emitting mist. Out of the mist emerged her previously destroyed Kaiser Sea Horse. It was a Sea Serpent like creature with legs and a long metal spear for a weapon. Its attack power of 1700 could take out either Miguel's Warrior or Virus, but not the Sorcerer who had 2300 points.  
"Next I'll sacrifice my Sea Horse, and use it's ability to treat it as 2 monsters to summon a creature of light called Moisture Creature!" Tea's monster faded out and was replaces by a large creature that was made seemingly entirely out of water vapor. Its eyes glowed a bright red-orange color. In one hand it held an umbrella and in the other, a laser pistol. At 2800 attack points, it could take out any of Miguel's monsters.

"Your Warrior Lady only has 1500 Attack points so Moisture Creature, blast her with Vapor Cannon." Tea gave the command and her monster fired its laser at Miguel's DD Warrior Lady. His Life Points dropped to 4800, but his monster was not destroyed. Instead another portal opened up in the center of the field.  
"I'll activate my Warrior Lady's Special Ability." Miguel said, "Since she's being attacked I can if I want remove from play both her and the monster that she did battle with." Miguel's warrior and Tea's Moisture Creature were both sucked into the portal, disappearing from sight. The portal then closed and both monsters were gone.

Yugi became full of despair. Tea's last monster was now gone and Miguel could win on his next attack. "NOOOOO!!! TEA!!" He shouted, Horus and Maximus escorted Yugi away from the platform and tried to calm him down.  
"Yugi," Horus said rather calmly, "I realize that this hurts for you to witness, but please let Tea handle this. I have a feeling she'll be ok."  
"But she's my friend and I can't let something bad happen to her like this." Yugi pleaded  
"We know that, but she wants to be able to fight her own battles and take care of herself." Maximus said

Meanwhile Tea ended her turn. Miguel drew to start his turn. As he looked at his card he began licking his lips again. "Oh yeah baby!! This one's over and we're gonna have fun tonight." He said. "I sacrifice my Tribe and summon Ice Emperor Mobius." Miguel's virus dissolved away and was replaced by a large pool of deep blue water on the arena floor. Out of this pool emerged Mobius, the Ice Emperor, a being wearing what looked like sheets of ice as a suit of armor. He pounded his two icy fists together and fired a lance made of ice at Tea's last remaining face down card.  
"Mobius's special ability lets him destroy up to two Magic or Trap cards when he's tribute summoned." Miguel said, "So once that card is gone, you too will be gone."

"I don't think so buddy." Tea said. "I can still activate this card since Mobius was summoned. Torrential Tribute!!" Tea's card activate and a massive tidal wave splashed down on the field washing away both of Miguel's monsters. Then a whirlpool formed in the center of the field as if it were a bathtub drain and all of the water drained out of the arena. Miguel was not happy about this.   
"It's ok." He said. "I can wait a turn to win. I'll pay 800 Life and use Premature Burial to bring back Chaos Sorcerer." As his life points dropped to 4000 the ground quaked and cracked and Miguel's Sorcerer emerged from underneath. "Now I'll have him attack!" Miguel's Sorcerer delivered another white and black energy blast directly at Tea. She lost another 2300 Life Points, leaving her only with 2000 Life Points remaining.  
"I end my turn." Miguel said "Yo! I got you beat."

"My move." Tea said as she drew. "First I'll play Terraforming." She said 'This card lets me search my deck for any field Magic Card and put it in my hand. I'll get this one. The Sanctuary in the Sky. Now I shall activate it!!" As tea activated the card, the ground quaked again and this time a large white marble palace emerged from the floor and began to float about 12 feet over the entire dueling platform.

"With this Sanctuary in place, all Fairy monsters are safe." Tea said. "If they do battle at all, the controller of the Fairy will not lose any Life Points regardless of the outcome. Not to use it. I'll play a Premature Burial of my own and restore Kaiser Seahorse." Tea's Life Points decreased to 1200 and just as with Miguel's Sorcerer Tea's Seahorse reappeared.  
"Now I'll sacrifice it again and count it as two tributes to summon out Guardian Angel Joan." Once again, Tea's seahorse faded away. This time a beam of light shone up from the floor and into the floating palace. Inside the beam emerged a beautiful maiden wearing celestial robes and had clear, lightweight wings. This was Guardian Angel Joan, and she had an attack power of 2800.  
"Joan, Attack his Sorcerer with Sacred Light Beam." Tea shouted and her angel balled her hands together and fired a stream of light at Miguel's Sorcerer. The sorcerer tried with all his powers to stop the beam but it was no use, he was destroyed and Miguel lost 500 Life Points drooping him to 3500. Then the shattered pieces of Chaos Sorcerer were absorbed by Tea's Angel. She converted the pieces into a beam of light and fired it at Tea. Tea felt warmth flow through her body as he Life Points jumped from 1200 to 3500.

"I guess you know by now." Tea began, "Anytime Guardian Angel Joan destroys a monster, that monster's attack points get added to my Life Points. Looks like I'm back in the duel. Go ahead, let's see what you've got."  
Miguel was getting angrier "Arrrrrrgh, I'm gonna get you for this one." He said  
"I set one monster face down and end my turn."  
Tea drew; she looked over her cards and realized that she can now turn the tables on Miguel. I'll summon Warrior of Zera to the field." She said. This warrior was dressed in a green chest protector, with a green spiked helmet and green gauntlets on his arms. He had a red scarf and blue war pants on. His sword had on the hilt a picture of a skull and spikes on the end. He had 1600 attack and defense points. Tea thought about attacking but decided to wait one more turn. "Go" she said

Miguel began his turn. "I'll set another monster face down and end my turn he said." He tried to remain calm but inside he was getting angry.  
Tea drew her card. It was My body as a Shield, the card Horus used to stop Kaiba's Crush Card. She quickly set it on the field. "Joan attack the monster on the right." Tea Said. Joan fired a beam of light at Miguel's monster. It flipped face up and was shown as a small, undead looking skeleton with a Grim Reaper Scythe in his hand. It only had 200 Defense points but it was not destroyed. Miguel laughed.  
"Hahaha! Don't you know that Spirit reaper can't be destroyed in battle?" he half-jokingly asked  
"It's ok, Zera, attack the other face down monster." Tea ordered. Warrior of Zera raised his sword and lunged at the other face down monster. It flipped face up to reveal another Spirit Reaper. Zera's sword bounced right off of the thing.  
"Ok Miguel, I'll end my turn." Tea said

"My move then." Miguel said as he drew his card. "Oh that's just beautiful," he said  
"but not as beautiful as you my little lady. I play Lightning Vortex, by discarding a card from my hand, I destroy all your face up monsters." A stream of lightning bolts began raining down from the sky aimed at Tea's monsters.  
"Sorry Miguel." Tea cut in "I'll counter by using My Body as a Shield." As Tea activated this card, her life points dropped to 2000 and a surge ran through her body, causing her to scream in pain. Then a burst of energy emerged on the field and drew all the lightning bolts towards it. Once the bolts were absorbed, the energy exploded.  
"That may have cost 1500 Life Points but it was worth it to protect my monsters." Tea said. Horus saw Tea make this move and he was very thrilled to see her use a card that he loved so dearly.

Miguel was upset at this. "You little stinker. I'll make you pay for this." He said. "I set one monster face down and activate book of Taiyou on it to turn it face up." His magic card created a magic book over top of his face down monster. The book released a bright light, like sunlight towards the face down monster flipping it face up. The monster was revealed to be Morphing Jar, a small stone jar with an eye in the center of the inside of the jar.  
"Drop your hand and draw 5 new cards." Miguel said Tea did so, but in doing so she discarded a card called Outstanding Dog Marron, which when sent to the graveyard by any means, gets reshuffled back into the deck. "Now to slow you down, I set two cards face down and activate the Dark Door. Now you will only be able to attack once."

"I draw." Tea said  
"And I activate Drop-Off!" Miguel interrupted "Tea paused for a moment, then calmly discarded her card, Good Goblin Housekeeping to the Graveyard. Tea resumed her turn  
"I now play Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards" she drew her cards. One of them was the card Horus showed her a week earlier, Archlord Zerato. "Now I discard Keldo and Zolga from my hand. OK Miguel, I hope you're ready, cause here it comes. I play Mystical Space Typhoon on your face down card." Tea's card activated and a swirling storm enveloped Miguel's face down card, Mirror Force.

"Big Deal." Miguel said "You can still only attack once and my Spirit Reapers and indestructible."  
"One attack is all I need!" Tea said "Watch and learn. I sacrifice Warrior of Zera to the Sanctuary in the Sky in order to summon, Archlord Zerato!" Tea's warrior was pulled into the floating palace by a beam of light, and when he arrived his armor changed from green to silvery-white. His sword lost its spikes and skulls and formed into the shape of a Cross. He also grew larger and more muscular and sprouted wings from his back. Zerato's attack Strength jumped from 1600 to 2800. "Now I activate Zerato's Special Ability, by discarding one Light monster from my hand and destroy all your monsters!" Tea released Outstanding Dog Marron once again from her hand. As she reshuffled it into her deck, Zerato pointed his sword towards the sky. It became charged with lightning. He then pointed the sword at Miguel's monsters and at lightning shot from the tip of the sword, shocking all three of his monsters into oblivion.

"No! This can't be! Not Again!!" Miguel said  
As Tea began her next move she looked over her shoulder at Horus. "Horus, this one's for you." She said to him  
"You're doing great up there." Horus replied back. Then Tea resumed her turn. "Now you have two cards left and I don't trust them so I'll pay 1000 Life points to play Delinquent Duo." Two mischievous little demons flew at Miguel and snatched the two cards he was holding, Blade Knight and a second Chaos Sorcerer and threw them in the graveyard. "Now to finish this, I play Gift of the Martyr!!" Tea shouted. At this Guardian Angel Joan extended her hand towards Zerato. A beam of light flowed out of her hand and into Zerato, as Joan slowly faded from sight. Meanwhile Zerato's attack power jumped to 5600.

"Gift of the Martyr allows me to sacrifice one of my monsters and transfer its attack strength to another for one turn." Tea said, "So now Zerato has enough power to take you out. Sword of the Heavens!!!" At this command Archlord Zerato fired a stream of blue lightning directly at Miguel. It connected and sent Miguel flying clear off of the platform. His Life Points fell to 0. 

"Yeah!!! Awesome dueling Tea!!" Joe shouted, "You creamed this guy!!" Yugi, Joey, Horus, Maximus and Shinobi all ran over to Tea as she descended the platform to greet her. They all gave her congratulatory high-fives for her job well done.  
"Tea, that was beautiful!" Horus said, 'and you used the cards I showed you!! Even better!!"  
"I bet that felt good to pound that creep into the dirt like that!" Maximus said  
Tea was choked up with tears of joy. "Thanks guys," she said, fighting back a tear "This felt really good. I got to stand up for myself."  
"I'm so glad you're not hurt." Yugi said "I was so worried about you up there."  
"Don't be scared Yugi." Tea said, "I can take care of myself."

Meanwhile Miguel slowly climbed to his feet. The blast from Zerato blew him all the way to the basement floor. As he staggered to his feet Horus looked over and saw him rise. "Hold on a minute. We need to take out the trash." Horus said as he, Maximus and Shinobi all walked up to him.

"You still haven't learned Miguel." Horus said, "We tried to teach you and we failed. You came back seeking vengeance and all you found was more humiliation. If ever you return to this establishment, you shall regret the day you were born. Maximus, grab his deck!!!" Maximus quickly climbed up the platform and gathered up all of Miguel's cards.  
"We'll hang on to this." Horus said "I don't think you'll need it anymore." Horus then raised his gauntlet in Miguel's face and his eyes glowed a bright red. "NOW BE OFF WITH YOU!!!" Horus shouted, Miguel, as if not in control of his own body, silently made his way towards the stairs leading upstairs. At the top of the stairs, he regained control of himself, turned around and spoke.

"You may have stopped me." Miguel shouted, "But you cannot stop what lies ahead. The dawning of a new era is upon you. The age of Chaos has begun!" Miguel then ran out the front doors and out of Game Sanctuary.

"Age of Chaos? What does he mean by that?" Yugi asked  
"He's one of them now." Shinobi responded, "He's a Hunter now."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Confessions of a Troubled Mind

Several hours after Miguel left Game Sanctuary Set met with Seto Kaiba at Kaiba Corp Headquarters inside Seto's office. Seto was rather angry.  
"It looks like your plan failed." Seto remarked. "Your buddy Miguel got flattened by Tea Gardner of all people."  
Set was rather annoyed at Kaiba's lack of confidence, "In case you forgot, I sent Miguel in to gain information, not to kick the crap out of people, and he gave me exactly that. We now know what these guys are capable of. If they can give Tea Gardner this kind of power, then surely Yugi and Joey are just as powerful now."  
"So what do you want to do now?" Kaiba asked Set then stood up and began to pace about Seto's office.  
"OK, I have an idea." Set began "They have too much advantage inside Game Sanctuary. We need to somehow lure them out. My associates and I are based in Egypt where we have our headquarters, if could somehow lure them to coming to our headquarters, we could better catch them of guard and take care of these guys."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Kaiba asked.  
"If we can bring Tea Gardner to Egypt, they would obviously drop what they were doing and come find her."  
"You're going resort to kidnapping Tea Gardner?" Kaiba asked, "Isn't that a little too simple for a man of your talents?"  
Set stopped pacing, placed his hand on his chin and looked at Kaiba, "True, kidnapping the girl is a very clichéd move, but you must admit, it is effective. Sometimes a trap is only as good as the bait you use."  
"Seems a bit extreme just to eliminate a few duelists." Seto said "But these aren't any ordinary duelists. So I'll go along with this."  
"Glad you agree." Set said. "Of course this will require you coming to Egypt with me to await Horus's arrival. And when he shows up, you'll get as many shots at him as you need. My men will see to that."

"Good!" Kaiba said, "I'll have my Blue-Eyes White Jet prepared for the trip and we can leave as soon as possible."  
'Take your time." Set replied. "Oh but Seto, I would advise you to not bring Mokuba along. This could get dangerous and we would not want to see him get hurt."  
"Fine." Kaiba said. Set then pulled out his cell phone from his inside coat pocket and placed another call.  
"Lord Set!" The voice on the other side answered, "How may we serve you?"  
"Bring Tea Gardner to me. I'll be waiting for her at the Temple. Be careful, The Saints might be ready to protect her."  
"It shall be done My Lord." The voice responded. Set then hung up and placed his phone back in his coat pocket. He then followed Seto through a secret passage behind a bookshelf in his office leading to an elevator shaft. Set and Seto entered the elevator and Seto pressed the up button. The elevator rose and carried the two men to the roof of the building, where Mr. Kaiba's personal Jet was docked. It was in the shape of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The two men boarded the aircraft, Seto in the Pilot's seat and Set in the co-pilot seat. The aircrew gave the jet the green light and the engines roared to life, propelling the craft off the platform and into the sky.

The next night, back at Game Sanctuary, The Saints were all back inside the Rectory eating dinner after closing the shop up for the night. The Rectory was a three-story building adjacent to Game Sanctuary. The first floor consisted of an entrance hallway with stairs leading to the upper floors. Inside were a kitchen, dining room, and a small office in the back where business for the shop could be conducted. There was a larger office with an adjacent sitting room that had been converted into a large living room with couches, and a large 32-inch TV with a VCR, DVD player and multiple video game consoles. This was the common area for the Saints and their students. The second floor consisted of 8 small rooms. These rooms were previously used by the Priests and other church staff as living quarters. Each room was simply furnished, containing only a bed, dressers and a desk. Each room also had its own small bathroom. These rooms were used by the students living with The Saints. Students using these rooms were allowed to furnish them however they pleased. Thus some rooms contained Television sets, Computers and posters for the walls among other decorations. The third floor consisted of three separate apartments. These were the quarters of The Saints. Each Saint had his own apartment that consisted of a bedroom, private bathroom, living room, walk in closet, and a small kitchen.

The Saints were downstairs in the common dining room eating a supper of roast chicken and steamed vegetables. James Triton, and Adam O'Neil, a big well-built kid about the same size as Horus only a little skinnier who was also living with The Saints as a student were eating with them. It was raining extremely hard out so no one had any intentions of going out that evening. This was the kind of night where The Saints would prefer to just sit back and play some video games.

"Hey Maximus," Adam said. "After supper I wanna play you in that game 'Twisted Metal.'  
Maximus began to laugh out loud at this challenge. "OK fine I'll play you but you do remember the last time we played right?"  
"Yeah but I'll be ready for you this time." Adam retorted  
"Adam, let's be honest Dan owns all of us at that game, just like I can kick all of your butts in Guilty Gear." Horus chimed in  
"Oh you know it's just a matter of time before I take you down." Shinobi, said.  
"Aye Sean, sure you will. And let me know when Elvis gets here." Horus responded Maximus laughed so hard at this comment that he spat out a mouthful of water he had been trying to swallow.  
Just then the doorbell rang, "Now who on earth could that be?" Adam asked,  
"I'll get it." James said. He dropped off his dinner plate in the dishwasher and walked over to the front door. He opened it to see a soaking wet Tea Gardner standing there.

"I'm really sorry to bother you guys, but I need to talk to Horus." She said  
"Sure, come on in." James said as he motioned for Tea to enter the Rectory. 'Matt!!! You have a visitor." James shouted. Horus made his way to the front door and was started to see Tea. "What are you doing here?" he asked  
"I needed to talk to you." She said.   
Horus turned to James "I'm gonna take her upstairs. See if you can't find her a change of clothes the poor girl is soaked." He whispered into James's ear. James than walked back into the dining room.  
"Why don't we get you a nice shower first? You're soaked." Horus said  
"Yea, that would be nice." Tea replied through her shivering.

Horus led Tea up to the third floor of the Rectory. He led her down to the end of the hallway to a plain white door with "Mathias Blackheart" engraved on a brass panel in front. He opened the door and they entered his apartment. He decorated the walls with an ancient Egyptian motif. His living room contained a couch along the wall near a window, two swiveling chairs in front of a 25-inch TV with a PlayStation2 Console hooked up to it. There was also a reclining chair in one corner next to a computer cabinet. He had turned his kitchen into a sort of mini bar where he could serve both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

"Wait here a moment." Horus said. He then disappeared through a door leading into a bathroom. He returned with a large crimson towel. He handed the towel to Tea.  
"Take as long as you need in there." He told her. "We'll try and find you some clean clothes."  
"Thanks a lot." Tea said as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her  
After about 15 minutes, there was a knock on the front door of Horus's apartment. "It's Dan!" the voice said. Horus opened the front door and Maximus walked in carrying a white sleeveless T-shirt, a pair of jeans, a pair of sneakers and a pair of clean socks.  
"These should fit her." Maximus said as he handed Horus the clothes. "I'll be downstairs teaching Adam a lesson in pain." Maximus then turned around and headed for the exit. "Don't be too harsh on him." Horus said just as Maximus was leaving.

Horus knocked on the bathroom door to get Tea's attention.  
"I'm leaving a set of clean clothes on my bed." Horus said, "Just go out the bathroom from the other door to get in there."  
"Thanks." Came Tea's reply, About 5 minutes later the water finally stopped running. Horus had been killing the time by checking his email and reading online news articles about his defeat of Seto Kaiba. Another 10 minutes after he heard the water stop Tea emerged from the bedroom wearing the set of clothes that he had left for her. The shirt looked 1 size too small for Tea, but nonetheless it fit her, or she was not going to complain about it not fitting.   
"Feeling refreshed?" Horus asked  
"Yeah, Thank you so much." Tea said

"So what's on your mind?" Horus asked, "Surely you didn't come here just to use my shower. Although that's not necessarily a bad thing."  
Tea paused for a moment, and then she motioned for Horus to come with her into the bedroom. He got up from the computer and followed her. Horus's bedroom was decorated in the same ancient Egyptian motif that his living room was done in. The walls were painted with all sorts of hieroglyphs and symbols. The bed was an ordinary modern bed though. A reclining chair was in one corner of the room next to a small table. On this table contained small Egyptian looking artifacts and a small wooden box.

"I have to ask." Tea said pointing to this table "What is all this stuff?"  
Horus sighed "Those items were given to me by Elena." He began "They are all I have to remember her by." He picked up the wooden box and showed it to Tea. "This was the box that she gave me that had the Horus cards in it." He then picked up a smaller blue velvet box. He opened it up and pulled out a dueling deck.  
"This was that 'Temple Deck I told you about" Horus said. I keep all of this as mementos of Elena, and to remind me of what I fight for.  
"You really loved her didn't you?" Tea asked  
"Absolutely." Horus said, "She served as a ray of light to me, at a time when I was in complete darkness. Her death in ways brought back that darkness inside my heart. I guess you could say that I am one who lives in the darkness and attempts to shatter it."

"Wow!" Tea said, "That's really touching. I hate to change the subject like this but I came here to ask you for some advice. I'm really worried about Yugi."  
Horus was extremely surprised to hear this. "Why? What's wrong?" Horus asked  
"He still thinks that he should have been the one to face Miguel instead of me." Tea began, "Ever since the Puzzle was destroyed, Yugi's felt like he's missing a part of himself. Somehow, someway he would always find ways to win, but it's been so much harder since The Pharaoh went back to Ancient Egypt and the Puzzle was destroyed. At the World Championships Yugi felt like he'd lost his prestige when Kaiba beat him. When he lost to Shinobi, Yugi felt like he lost his pride. When he tried to step in against Miguel, Yugi wanted to do more than protect me, he wanted to hopefully win and help boost his sagging confidence."

Horus sat down in the reclining chair listening to Tea's story. He was rather shocked by this turn of events. "I think I get it." Horus said, and then he began to explain. "Yugi feels like he's lost his edge over the rest of the dueling world. And now in his own mind he feels like he needs to find some way to regain his momentum, but every big loss only seems to damage his confidence further. Strange, knowing what I know about Yugi Moto I must say that that's not like him at all."  
"I guess it must have been losing the Pharaoh." Tea said, "They were really close to each other and went through so much together. But Yugi was really upset that I wouldn't let him duel Miguel in my place."

Horus bowed his head for a moment to think. "Why did you decide to fight that one on your own?" he asked.  
Tea began to explain "Well, ordinarily I would have let Yugi step in and face Miguel for me. But when you showed me those cards in that room, I felt like they would help me become stronger. Not just as a duelist, but as a person. I felt like I had a new sense of power and strength and that I was now able to take care of myself. In my heart I needed to face Miguel because I needed to step up from the sidelines and fight for myself. Let's face it, being the 'Damsel in Distress' is not funny."

"I didn't think so." Horus said  
"What has me worried is that when we left here after I beat Miguel, Yugi was going on and on about how 'You could have gotten hurt up there Tea. You should have let me face Miguel. I need to regain my stride.' It's almost like he feels like he has to prove to everyone that he can duel perfectly well on his own, without the Millennium Puzzle, but nothing ever seems to go right for him. It hurts me to see him like this. I care about Yugi, I really do, but he's been so focused on gaining back his confidence."  
Horus was near speechless and hearing this. After all it's not everyday that you hear that Yugi Moto, a former World Duel Monsters Champion, is having issues with his dueling abilities.

"Jeez!" Horus exclaimed. "This is unbelievable." He the stood up and walked over to Tea. He placed his hand on her chin and had her look him in the eyes as he spoke. "Don't you worry. We're not going to hurt Yugi. We're here to help. He offered to join us in our fight against the Hunters; the least we can do is help him regain his stride. I'm sure when he sees how his new deck works it will give him all the confidence he needs."

"Thank you Mathias." Tea said. Horus was caught a bit off guard. He was so used to having Tea call him Horus and not by his real name. He smiled, Tea could sense something in his smile connect with her.  
"I can tell." She said "Ever since we met, you've taken a bit of a liking to me. What is it about me that has you so intrigued?" Horus froze. He then bowed his head rather sadly and covered his face with an open hand.  
"It's because you remind me a lot of Elena." He said, "Your thinking is a lot like hers used to be. You have that same warmth and compassion that she used to show me the errors of my ways." Horus was about ready to cry; he broke from his talk and grabbed a tissue.  
"Oh, I'm so sorry I brought this up." Tea said

By now Horus had regained his composure, "Eh, It's cool." He said. "Every so often I don't see the harm in letting out some emotion. It's really bad to keep things bottled up. Don't worry, I'm OK."  
Tea breathed a sigh of relief "Thank goodness." She said,  
"I tell you what," Horus began "Tomorrow, why don't we get Yugi and Joey over here and see if me, Dan and Sean can't help rebuild Yugi's confidence."  
"That would be great." Tea said. Horus extended his hand to Tea. Tea grabbed it and pulled herself up. The two then left Horus's apartment and proceeded back downstairs to the Living room.

"Is there anyway I could stay here tonight?" Tea asked. "Since you're gonna get Yugi and Joey over here tomorrow it may be easier for us."  
"Sure no problem" Horus replied. "We've got some extra rooms on the second floor you're more than welcome to one."  
"Thanks." Tea replied. Tea and Horus entered the living room and saw Maximus and James playing a round of Twisted Metal. Shinobi and Adam were sitting back watching.  
"Hey guys, when this game is finished you wanna watch that movie I got last week again?" Horus asked, you know the Thai Martial Arts one with the Random Dance Sequence."

"Yeah!" came everyone's response all at once. Maximus quickly turned off the game and turned on the DVD player.  
"I don't know if you like Martial Arts movies," Horus said to Tea "But we got this one just last week and everyone here loves it. Hey guys, on three everyone, 1, 2, 3."  
As Horus reached three Adam, James, Maximus and Shinobi all got up and yelled in unison "MUSIC!!!" They then proceeded to move their shoulders and get their arms going in an on the spot dance. Tea did a double take at this sight. "WOW!!" was all she could say.  
"Watch the movie and you'll understand." Horus said.  
"Ok, Maybe I'll get a kick out of this." Tea replied.  
The movie was called "Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior" it was a foreign film taking place in Thailand. The story revolved around a village whose statue of The Buddha was desecrated and only the village's chosen hero can set things right. The film ran its course and when it was over everyone looked over at Tea. "So what did you think?" Adam asked. Tea then stood up as if to address everyone  
"I've got one word for all of you…MUSIC!!!"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: The Gauntlet Thrown

"GUYS!!!! GUYS!!!" Horus yelled throughout the entire rectory. 'Get over here quick!!!" At once, James, Adam, Shinobi and Maximus all ran up to the second floor to the room that Tea was using for the night. The room was totally ransacked and Tea was nowhere to be found. On the bed was a small cassette tape with the words "Play Me" taped across its front. Horus entered the room and picked up the tape. "Dan, you have a cassette player right?" he asked.  
"Yeah, I'll go upstairs and get it." Maximus said, He then turned and ran as fast as he could upstairs to his apartment to find the player. He returned about 2 minutes later with a small portable cassette player. Horus placed the tape into the slot and pressed, "Play." A recoding of a dark and brooding voice began to play.

"Hello boys. It seems that Miss Tea Gardner is now with me. If you want to see her again, come to the land where all of this Duel Monsters Business began. We'll be waiting for you. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"

Horus recognized the voice on the tape as that of Set himself. His eyes glowed a flash of steel gray and red. "You twisted monster." He said, "You'll pay for this. We'd better get Yugi and Joey over here. They need to hear this too."

About 20 minutes later Yugi and Joey showed up at the Rectory.  
"What happened?" Yugi asked frantically "What happened to Tea?"  
"They have her now." Shinobi said, "The Hunters took her." Horus then played back the tape for Yugi and Joey to hear.  
'That voice is that of Set." Horus said, "He's laid down a challenge to us. The Hunters took Tea to Egypt. They must have come in the middle of the night and broke into her room."  
"Well, what are we gonna do?" Joey asked  
"The three of us are going to answer the challenge." Horus said. "We're going to Egypt, to the temple of The Eternal Hunters and destroy them once and for all."  
"I'm going with you guys." Joe said "You've done so much for us I think I owe it to you to help out."  
"I'm coming too." Yugi said, "I need to rescue my friend."  
Horus motioned Yugi to come with him. The two left the group and walked outside the front door so that no one could hear them talk.

"Yugi, I need to know. Is that how you truly view Tea, as a friend?" Horus asked  
Yugi was caught off guard for a few seconds before answering, "Yes, Horus. What kind of question is that?"  
Horus looked up with a look of disbelief, then he addressed Yugi "Yugi, you do realize that Tea likes you, right??" He asked  
"Of course she likes me, she's my friend." Yugi replied, Horus's disbelief grew.  
"Oy! You don't get it, so I'll just spell it out for you. When Tea told me she liked you, she meant like in the "I wanna date you and have a relationship sense." Horus then gave Yugi a slap on the side of the head. It was not too hard; it was just enough so that Yugi could feel it.

"WHAT!!" Yugi said excitedly, "So that's why she was always so clingy towards me all these years. Wow, I never saw that coming."  
"Yugi, you need to open your mind up more to these things. If your mind is not open and alert, The Hunters will hurt you." Horus said  
"I can handle the Hunters" Yugi said. "I can take care of myself and handle anything they throw at me." Yugi said.  
"I hope so, Horus replied." They then re-entered the Rectory to join the group.

"Yugi, Joey, this is going to be a rather arduous path and battle. If you want to join us, feel free but be careful. The Hunters are powerful." Horus said, "Have you boys got Duel Discs?"  
'Yeah we have them in the car." Yugi said. He and Joey then left to go back to the car. Meanwhile Horus turned to Adam and James,  
"Guys, you two are gonna have to run the shop for a few days. We'll be back as soon as we can. If anyone asks tell them that we are away on business." Horus said  
"Don't worry, the shops in good hands." James answered.  
"Good." Horus replied. The he turned to Maximus and Shinobi "Time to put on our battle gear." He said. At this all three went upstairs to their respective apartments to prepare for battle. Maximus changed out of his usual jogging pants and put on a dark blue long sleeve T-Shirt that looked more like it was Medieval Armor than a shirt. He also put on jeans, black ankle length boots, and a black trench coat that fastened in front. At his side he placed his custom-made Duel Disc. It was shaped like a sword and when drawn the blade would fold over the left arm. There were slots on the hilt for a deck reader and graveyard. Shinobi donned an all black night suit similar to one a ninja would wear. His duel disc was shaped like a large throwing star. The blades folded out and served as arms for reading cards. Horus's attire consisted of all black. He wore black jeans, with a sleeveless black T-Shirt. Underneath his shirt he had on what looked like a suit of plate armor colored black and red. He also had a head cowl that looked like a hawk's head, but he did not put this on yet. Across his left arm was his duel disc. It had a hawk's mouth at the end and going the length of his arm was what looked like a serrated blade that folded into the shape of a dragon's wing. 

Yugi and Joey both stood in the main hallway waiting for The Saints. They both had the standard Kaiba Corp red and white duel discs. They both looked rather puzzled upon seeing the Saints come downstairs in their attire.

"What on earth are you guys wearing?" Joey asked, "You guys look like you're going to a costume party or something."  
"These are our battle suits." Horus said, "We only wear them when we go to face Hunters."  
"All right I can live with that." Joey said  
"Come on, we'd better get moving. We have to get to the airport quick." Horus said. The five all filed out of the rectory across to a small parking lot next to the Rectory. This lot was formerly used by Rectory staff and by Priests in residence. It was now used by The Saints for their own use. The five all climbed into Horus's car, which was a big black Chevy Impala that resembled something Darth Vader would drive. They made their way to the Airport and after about 90 minutes boarded a flight bound to Cairo, Egypt.

Since the flight was going to take quite some time, the group had plenty of time to kill. They tried to make jokes whenever possible.  
"I have to ask, how did you guys get those duel discs? They look awesome." Yugi said  
Shinobi grinned, "Another wonderful contribution from our good friends at Kaiba Corp. We needed something for portable battle that suited our personalities and playing styles."  
"Dan, I'm sorry, but I just cannot picture you wearing jeans like that." Joey said  
Maximus looked down at his pants for a second and then looked at Joey. "You're right. I normally don't wear jeans. I prefer my sweats for comfort. But Matt said that I'd look cool if I used these for my battle gear. Have to admit, he was right." Maximus said  
"I can't believe he actually talked you into that." Joey said  
"Nahh, you know what I can't believe? I cannot honestly believe that they actually let Dan on this plane. Mr. I have a duel disc that looks like a sword." Shinobi chimed in  
Everyone let out a small laugh, but Maximus recovered and quickly fired back. "Oh Yeah, well I cannot honestly believe that they even let you out in public. Mr. I look like I'm going to a pajama party." He said, "Or how about, Mr. I look like I'm trying out to be a cat burglar."  
"Yeah, I am a cat burglar. If you keep this up I might have to steal your tongue and silence your jokes for good." Shinobi said.  
"If that's the case then I guess a cat would really have my tongue. I'd better get some catnip or a ball of yarn for the cat to play with." Maximus responded

"Hey, guys keep this up and I'll drag Sean over to an all girls slumber party and have you tided down so you can be beaten with pillows as if you were a piñata, and then I'll have them give you a make over. And you Dan I'll take your precious sweatpants, every single pair you own, and BURN THEM!!!!" Horus said  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO Not that!!" Maximus shrieked. He could not bear the thought of losing his beloved jogging pants.  
"Don't Temp Me!" Horus warned, in a more relaxed joking tone

Eventually after countless hours of similar dialogue and the occasional nap in between, the plane finally landed in Cairo, Egypt. The group gathered up their belongings and ventured out into the streets of Cairo. Shinobi pulled out a head cowl and put it over his face so that only his eyes were now visible. They made their way to a small car rental building about half a mile from the Airport where Horus knew an old friend. 

"Akmed! My old friend! Horus said. It is good to see you again."  
"Mathias! How are you?" Akmed replied from behind the front deck. Akmed was a middle-aged man with a thin, streamlined, beard and graying hair. "What are you doing in this part of the world again?"  
"Long story Akmed, but first let me introduce you to my companions. The little short guy with the trench coat and jeans is Daniel Clay. The man with his face covered to protect it from the sun is Sean Phoenix; the little one with the spiky blond hair is the famed Yugi Moto, and the blond guy next to him his Joseph Wheeler.

"Hello Akmed." Came everyone's response. "Welcome, all of you to Cairo." Akmed answered back.  
"We need a jeep Akmed. Have you got anything available that can go off road?" Horus asked, "We have to pay some old friends of mine a visit."

Akmed realized that Horus meant The Eternal Hunters when he said 'some old friends'  
"I have something that you will find useful in your journey." Akmed said as he reached under the desk into a drawer. He came up a minute later with a set of keys and handed them to Horus. "Take the black one in the far back of the lot." Akmed said, "It is best for where you will be going. I wish you luck on your journey."

"Thank you Akmed." Horus said. They took the keys and exited out a back door into a parking lot. In the back of the lot, was an old, 4X4 truck that Akmed had said was there. Everyone climbed in and Horus started up the Engine.

"Let's do this." He said, everyone put a fist in as a handshake and then Horus drove off the lot into the streets of Cairo.

"All right, this thing has a CD player on it." Horus commented, "This requires some MUSIC!!!" He then reached into a backpack and pulled out a CD, he put it in the player and the truck began playing metal songs from the 1980's.  
"Yeah, now this is my kind of music." Horus said as they sped through the streets and out into the desert, Maximus and Joey began to sing along to some of the songs they knew from the disc.  
"Yugi, Joey," Horus began, "Rock and Roll can make any trip more enjoyable."   
After about an hour traversing through rugged desert terrain, the group entered a narrow valley with sheer cliff walls. A short while after entering the valley, Horus pulled the truck over to the side near the wall and shut the engine off.  
"We'd better walk from here, so they don't hear us coming." He said, "It's not much further. Try and stay down and keep quiet. We don't want to give ourselves away." Horus and the rest of the group exited the truck and proceeded on foot through the valley. They tried to stick close to one of the walls so that no scout up top could spot them.

Horus went about 15 feet ahead of the rest of the group in order to scout out the valley. The terrain was pretty desolate, except for a few rocks scattered across the area. He slowly slinked back towards the group.

"Ok, it's only about a mile or two to the Temple. We can cover that quickly. Just stay low." Horus said. The five worked their way through the valley as quickly and as silently as possible. After about 400 yards or so, they came across a large rock. Horus looked across the valley and saw another large rock. He looked and saw a flash of light come from the rock. Seeing this he quickly dove for cover and pulled everyone with him.  
"I thought I saw something." Horus whispered. "It looked like someone was behind the rock, watching."  
Maximus slowly crawled around the rock to take a peek out. From his position he could see flashes of light coming from the rock across the valley. He quickly crawled back behind the rock. "Someone's behind that other rock. I could see the light reflect off of a pair of binoculars. He's looking for us."  
"Ok, everyone stay down and keep quiet." Horus said, "When I give the signal, we hug the wall and try to slip past him. The shadows should conceal us."

Horus then poked his head out from behind the rock to see the lookout on the other side. The flashes of light had vanished. About a minute later the sound of a horse neighing echoed through the valley. Joey freaked out and let out a loud scream. "Whoa!!! Don't let in get me!!!" He shouted.   
"Maximus and Shinobi quickly grabbed Joey and covered his mouth.  
"Shhhhhhhhhhh…They'll hear us." Shinobi said, no sooner did he say this did the sound of a horse-galloping, echo through the valley. Everyone looked up and saw a robed figure on horseback ride off towards the temple.

"Looks like our covers blown now." Horus said, he then look back towards the truck. "We might as well get the truck and drive through the valley. They know we're coming so no use being sneaky now."  
"Good idea." Yugi said, the group then made their way back to the truck, got in and started her up again.

Meanwhile, the rider rode full speed back to the Temple. He dismounted his horse at the front doors and entered the entrance hallway. Set was standing in the large torch-lit room that contained several passageways. At his sides were Seto Kaiba, Venom, Kaprit, and several other robed figures. The lookout removed his hood and revealed his face to Set; He was a large hulking man, just over 6 feet tall and was rather hefty. He had black hair, glasses, and clear skin similar in tone to Maximus and spoke slowly.

"Master," the lookout began. "The Saints are coming. They've also brought Yugi and Joey along as well."  
"Thank you Sylax." Set replied. Then he turned to address everyone. "All right, this is it. The Saints have taken the bait and have come to do battle. I want everyone to be prepared for anything they throw at you. Seto! You should stick with Sylax and Kaprit. They will make sure you are ok."  
"Fine," Seto barked out. "But do realize one thing Set. I don't know what you're planning to do with these freaks, and I honestly don't care. I desire nothing more than to get my revenge against Horus."  
"Seto, just RELAX!!" Set answered back. "You shall get all the revenge you desire, just have a little faith in me and my men. OK, Everyone into position." At this command everyone in the room spread out through the various passageways to await the arrival of The Saints. Set ran through the winding passageways to a hallway on the uppermost floor. He walked down to one of the torches lining the hall and pulled it down as if it were a lever. At once one of the wall panels opened up revealing a small chamber. He walked up to one of the walls where Tea was chained by both her hands and feet.

"They're almost here." Set said as he ran his hand gently across Tea's face.  
"Get away from me you freak!" Tea shouted as she struggled against the chains. Set stepped back until she tired herself out. He then walked up to her again.  
"Just relax, my dear. It will be over soon enough. Your friends are coming just as I knew they would." He then exited the chamber and pulled the torch/lever a second time closing the wall panel behind him.

Meanwhile the truck arrived at the main entrance to the Temple of the Eternal Hunters. It was located at a dead end at the end of the valley seemingly carved into the face of the wall thousands of years ago by the ancient Egyptians.  
"Well here it is everyone." Horus said, "The Temple of the Eternal Hunters." Everyone filed out of the truck and stared down the enormous pillars that held up the façade of the structure. Horus then had everyone form a huddle.  
"Ok everyone; this is what we trained for." Horus began "The time has come to exterminate these fiends once and for all. It's going to be a very dangerous battle inside, but trust your instincts and trust in your abilities and we will emerge victorious."  
"We're right behind you Mathias." Joey said  
"It's time to see if what've learned from you has paid off." Yugi said. Horus was extremely angry at this comment.

"Yugi, I'm not gonna argue with you. Just trust in us and in your abilities." Horus said. "This is nothing like the Yugi I've heard so much about."  
"The Yugi who won all those victories has gone away for awhile. I need to find him again. I need to prove to myself and to everyone that I can still win big duels when it counts." Horus's eyes glowed a steel grey as he stared down Yugi  
"Yugi, focus on the task at hand here. Worry about rescuing Tea and beating the Hunters." Horus said. Yugi began to fume with anger. He walked up to Horus and shoved him. Horus looked as if he was going to tear Yugi apart with his bare hands.  
"I don't know what your problem is Yugi but if it's a duel that's gonna settle this then let's go!" Horus took off his duster and flexed his shoulders. The blade on his left arm shot out and formed a serrated edge looking like a wing. He then placed his deck into the hawk's mouth. Yugi opened up his own duel disc and prepared his own deck.  
"Horus, I'm sorry it's come to this, but this will serve as my test before I take on the Hunters." Yugi shouted, "Let's Duel!"


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Collision Course

Horus and Yugi stood about 20 feet apart from each other staring down each other. Joey, Maximus and Shinobi all stepped back and could only watch, as Yugi Moto was about to challenge Horus to a duel.

"I can't believe it. I cannot believe that Yugi's actually resorting to this." Joey said. He then turned to Maximus "Guys I need to stop this. Is there anything we can do?"  
"Forget it. There's nothing that's gonna stop them. They want to go this bad then let them go." Maximus said  
"Yugi needs to learn to believe in himself again and to have faith in us. This I feel the only way." Shinobi added  
"I wish it weren't." Joey said rather dejectedly. He was now forced to watch the battle begin.

Yugi drew a sixth card "I'll start this off by setting down two cards face-down and setting a monster in Defense mode." Yugi ended his turn. Horus drew. He looked over his own hand and at Yugi diligently, as if he were planning some sort of counterattack. "I think this will throw him off the scent." Horus said to himself "Ok, Let's see you deal with this. I'll do the exact same thing. I'll set 2 magic/Traps face down and one monster in defense mode." Horus grinned at Yugi, "I'll end my turn." He said rather non-chalantly.  
Yugi began his turn. "I'll draw. I'll set two more cards face down and another monster Face down. Go Horus. Give me your worst."  
Horus chuckled a bit, and then he drew. "I'll set two more cards face down also, and I'll also set one more monster face down." Horus paused for a brief moment. "I'll end my turn." He then said.

Yugi was puzzled. He wasn't expecting Horus to be passive with him. "I expected you to be a bit more aggressive than this Horus. Defense isn't your style, and neither is copying your opponent's…"  
Horus cut off Yugi…"It's called strategy Yugi, and that's what I'm using right now. Whatever you do I am just going to do the exact same thing. I'm making you think. I'm trying to catch you off guard. I am trying to mess with your head, and if I succeed in getting in your head, then you're mine."

'I won't let you get the best of me Horus." Yugi shouted. "I've been through enough setbacks. I lost The Pharaoh six months ago. He was like a brother to me. I lost to Kaiba two weeks ago at the World Championships, and I felt like I could not be the duelist I was with The Pharaoh at my side. I lost to Shinobi and I felt more like I couldn't duel well anymore. I tried to protect Tea from Miguel and she nearly got hurt up there dueling him. I needed to have a big moment, because life has been handing me one defeat after another."

"Don't you realize THAT'S what we've been trying to do with you three since we met you?" Horus said. "I saw your duel with Kaiba and I saw that you were not your old self up there and I offered to help. As it turns out I not only was able to help you, but I helped Tea and Joey as well. Me, Dan and Sean are not in this for ourselves, we are trying to help others reach their highest potential."  
Yugi was stunned to hear Horus say this. "Right now Horus all I want to do is prove to myself that I can still duel like a champion. If I can do that then I know I'll be able to handle Set. And by the way, I'm activating this face down card at the end of your turn. Spell Absorbing Life."

At once a burst of white light spread across the entire playing area and focused on the monster cards. Both of Yugi's Monsters flipped face up, one was a black robed Wizard with a staff known as Skilled Dark Magician, the other was a smaller younger wizard dressed in Purple Robes, with blond hair and a headband this was known as Apprentice Magician. Horus's two monsters flipped face up also. The first was a purple robed Spirit Reaper, the second was Mid-Shield Gardna, a soldier with a large shield attached to his arm.  
'There are four effect monsters on the field so I gain 1600 Life points." Yugi said, as he said this all of the light gathered together and bathed Yugi's duel disc. His Life Points increased to 9600.  
"Now it's my turn." Yugi said as he drew, "I play Pot of Greed and draw two more cards. I also get to place one counter on my Skilled Dark Magician." As Yugi drew his cards a small beacon began to blink over the head of Yugi's Magician. 'Next I'll switch him into Attack position and attack your Mid-Shield Gardna with Dark Magic Shot." Yugi's Magician stood up from his block stance, waived his arms and released a black sphere of magic at Horus's soldier. Yugi's Magician had 1900 Attack points to 1800 Defense points for Mid-Shield Gardna so Horus's soldier took the brunt of the attack before shattering to pieces. 

Yugi continued. "Next I set two more cards face down and summon another Apprentice Magician to the field, letting me place a second counter on Skilled Dark Magician." A second purple robed young magician appeared on Yugi's side of the field. It pointed its staff at the Skilled Dark Magician and a second beacon started to blink. "Ok Horus, your turn now. Show me what you've got."  
"OK Here it comes." Horus said, "I'll sacrifice my Spirit Reaper to summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level 6!!" As Horus's Reaper faded away, there emerged a shadow resembling the shape of a dragon. The shadow began to assume a form and screeched with life as The Dragon appeared in all its fury. Yugi looked a bit scared as he now was staring down a form of the Dragon that had destroyed Seto Kaiba's reputation.  
"Attack his Attack mode Apprentice Magician with Crimson Dusk!" Horus commanded and his dragon began beating its wings stirring up a small dust storm. At only 400 Attack Points, Yugi's Magician would not stand a chance against Horus at its Level 6 form.

"Not so fast Horus. I counter with Magic Cylinder." Yugi said. He activated his trap card and a large cylinder appeared in front of Yugi. The cylinder absorbed all of the dust that the dragon had blown up with his wings. The cylinder then altered its direction and aimed directly at Horus. It then released the entire attack directly at Horus, taking 2300 life points from him. The blast knocked him backwards several steps.

"Nice Shot Yugi!" Horus said, without any sarcasm in his voice. "I'll play my face down Pot of Greed and End my Turn." As Horus drew his two cards a third beacon began to blink over Yugi's Magician's Head.  
Yugi drew to begin his turn. He could tell that Horus was still mimicking his moves, or at least imitating them as best he could, but Yugi thought eh could break Horus's strategy. "Since I have 3 counters I can Tribute my Skilled Dark Magician for Dark Magician!!" Yugi gave this command and the three beacons formed a ring around the Skilled Dark Magician. Out of the beacons magical runes emerged onto the floor and enveloped Yugi's Magician with a cloud of smoke. As the smoke Cleared, Skilled Dark Magician was gone and the true Dark Magician took his place.

"Dark Magician, attack Horus Level 6 with Dark Magic Attack!!" Yugi Shouted, Horus hunched down as if to absorb the blast. Dark Magician raised his staff and fired a beam of magical energy at Horus's Dragon.  
Horus chuckled a bit. "Yugi, does this look familiar to you?" He asked as he revealed one of his trap cards. It was a Magic Cylinder. This time, the Cylinder caught Dark Magician's blast and redirected it at Yugi. Yugi lost 2500 Life Points. The scored were now Yugi: 7100, Horus: 5700.  
Yugi could now see that Horus was still copying his every move. He was getting annoyed at this strategy by now. 'Stop Copying my moves and duel me for real!!!!" Yugi shouted  
"Don't you get it by now??? I AM dueling you." Horus retorted. This apparently is the only way we are going to teach you that we want to help."

"We'll see about that once the duel is over." Yugi said, "I'll switch Apprentice Magician to Defense mode and end my turn."  
"Pull for my turn." Horus said, as he looked over his cards, he began to stare down Yugi intently. "I'll summon Pitch-Black Warwolf to the field." A cloud of darkness appeared in front of Horus with what appeared to be a sliver of moonlight radiating from it. Out of this cloud emerged a wolf, as black as midnight with a long spear in his hand.  
"Now so you know, my Wolf's special ability prevents you from activating traps during the Battle Phase, so Horus will attack your Apprentice Magician without fear from those face down cards." Horus said, His Dragon then stirred up a dust storm around Yugi's Apprentice Magician, once big enough the dragon breathed fire on the storm and Apprentice Magician was consumed by the inferno.  
"You've activated my Apprentice Magician's Special Ability!" Yugi exclaimed. "When it is destroyed in battle, I can summon a Level 2 or lower Spellcaster to the field in Face-Down Defense mode, and I choose Magician of Faith."  
'That's fine. Pitch Black Warwolf will attack your Magician of Faith." Horus said. His wolf leaped forward and swung its spear into Yugi's Magician of Faith, flipping it face up and shattering her.  
'Thank you again Horus, now I use Magician of Faith's special Ability and return Pot of Greed to my Hand." Yugi said. Unfortunately he was too occupied getting back his Magic card to notice that Horus's Dragon was glowing.

"Hey Yugi," Horus said in a rather joking tone. "I'm gonna set once card face down and I'll end my turn. You know what happens now! My dragon grows to Level 8!!!"  
Yugi looked up from returning his Pot of Greed just in time to witness Horus's Dragon bath itself in light and grow larger. After about 10 seconds Yugi was staring down Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level 8. The Dragon screamed with life as Yugi's eyes began to glaze with terror. Facing down Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon was one thing, but this Dragon was far more intimidating to an opponent. "Oh Crap!" Yugi said

Yugi drew his card. It was Dark Magician Girl, his eyes filled with hope. He thought maybe he could find a way to beat Horus's Dragon using her. 'Ok Here we go. I sacrifice Dark Magician for Dark Magician Girl." Yugi said. Dark Magician faded away was in his place a circle of magic runes appeared and the female Dark Magician appeared. "Now since I summoned a monster, I can activate Torrential Tribute and destroy all monsters on the field!" Yugi shouted. He activated his trap card and a tidal wave began to spread across the entire playing area. Yugi felt for sure this would destroy Horus's Dragon.  
"I'm well prepared for this Yugi; I'll use Interdimensional Matter Transporter to Remove Horus, Level 8 from the game until the end of this turn." Horus said. He activated his card and a strange futuristic device appeared above his dragon. A beam of light fired down from the device and pulled the dragon up and inside. Then the device began to spin around rapidly until it appeared to collapse upon itself. It finally disappeared without a trace. Meanwhile all other monsters were washed away in the flood.

"Now to mount an offense." Yugi shouted. 'I'll play Pot of Greed and Draw 2 cards." Yugi paused for a moment. "Next I'll pay 800 Life Points and play Premature Burial on Dark Magician." Yugi's Life Points dropped to 6300 as his Dark Magician emerged from the ground. "Dark Magic Attack!!" Yugi Shouted, His Magician pointed his staff at Horus and fired a beam of magic directly at him. The blast connected and took 2500 Life Points from Horus. Horus writhed in pain.  
"Oh, it's not over yet!!" Yugi shouted. "Activate Quick Play Magic Card: Dedication through Light and Darkness!! By sacrificing Dark Magician I can summon the Dark Magician of Chaos!!!" A Magical circle appeared underneath Dark Magician and he was bathed in white and black beams. Within the beams the Dark Magician transformed into Dark Magician of Chaos. He was a similar looking wizard; only he wore black robes instead of purple ones. His staff was longer and wider than before. This Magician had 2800 Attack Points and 2600 Defense points.  
"I now use Dark Magician of Chaos's Special Ability to once again return Pot of Greed to my hand." Yugi said, "Now I attack with Chaos Energy Wave!!" The Dark Magician of Chaos took his staff and aimed with both hands at Horus. He then pointed the staff towards the ground and unleashed a stream of energy through the ground at Horus. Horus was hit by the blast and lost another 2800 Life Points. He now had only 400 remaining. Horus was knocked to one knee by the blast and he bowed his head to ward off the pain. In his heart however, he knew that Yugi was doing exactly as he should be doing. He began to smile a bit

Yugi continued, "I once again play Pot of Greed." As he drew Horus looked up at Yugi and smiled. "That's the spirit Yugi!! Great shot!" Horus said as he groaned with pain. "I'll chain with Call of the Haunted to revive my Warwolf." Horus activated his card and his Wolf returned from the ground in a cloud of mist. Yugi then looked at Horus and was genuinely concerned for his well being. He only had 400 Life Points left and had just taken two blasts from two very strong monsters. "Are you Ok Horus?" he asked

"I'll be fine." Horus grunted  
"I end my turn." Yugi said, as he said this the space capsule that had beamed Horus's Dragon aboard reappeared above the field. The beam flashed down once again and the dragon reemerged from the capsule and returned safely to the field. The Capsule then spun once more and vanished as it did earlier. The Dragon then looked back at Horus and saw him suffering from the two direct hits and expressed what appeared to be a look of concern for Horus. It was as if Horus the Black Flame Dragon could recognize when Mathias was in danger and if nothing else was physically capable of empathizing with the pain that Mathias was experiencing.

"I Draw…. I set one card face-down and summon Servant of Horus in Attack mode." Horus said. As he did this, Yugi activated another Trap. "I use Call of the Haunted and revive my Dark Magician." He said, Yugi's Magician reemerged on the field from beneath as it did before. Meanwhile a small priest wearing similar clothing to Horus, except this did not have on a shirt and wore a hawk shaped head cowl. He only had 100 Attack Points.  
"He may look small, but this monster has immense power." Hours stated. "Horus's Servant protects all forms of Horus the Black Flame Dragon from any effect of m opponent that targets a monster." Horus pointed at Dark Magician of Chaos. "Horus, attack Dark Magician of Chaos!! Black Heart Fire Blast!!!" The dragon reared his head back and released a stream of black fire at Yugi's Magician. Dark Magician of Chaos was incinerated in the firestorm and destroyed. Yugi's Life points dropped to 6100.  
"I hope you realize that your Magician isn't in the Graveyard, but removed from play. Horus stated. "I'll end my turn by switching my Wolf to Defense mode."

Yugi drew. "I'll activate Ring of Destruction on My Dark Magician. This will wipe out the last of your Life Points Horus." Yugi shouted. His trap activated and a large ring with multiple explosive charges snared Dark Magician. He struggled to free himself of the ring but it was no use. The charges detonated and destroyed Dark Magician. Normally this would deal damage to both players equal to the destroyed monster's attack strength but Horus was prepared as usual.  
'Yugi, Yugi, Yugi," Horus said rather disappointedly. "I would have thought you of all people would know not to say things like that if you can't back them up. I counter with Barrel behind the Door. This takes the damage I WOULD have taken and throws it back at you!" A large snake like tube appeared in front of Horus and led all the way around to behind Yugi's head. As the Charges on the Ring exploded the blast that was thrown at Horus entered the tube instead and finally exited out behind Yugi, hitting Yugi in the back of the head. Yugi was thrown to the ground by the blast and his Life Points dropped down by 5000. He now had only 1100 remaining.

"YUGI!!!" Joey shouted. "You gotta stop this. You don't need to prove anything to anyone.   
"Forget it man." Maximus chimed in. "He's not gonna stop until this is over."  
"Well at least no one can say he's holding back in this duel." Shinobi said  
Yugi slowly climbed to his feet. "I'm not out of this yet. I'm not giving up till it's over. I'll set this monster in Defense mode and end my turn."   
Horus drew "I'll set one monster face down and switch Servant of Horus to defense mode. Now I'll have Horus attack your face down monster." The dragon shot another stream of black fire at Yugi's face down monster. It was revealed to be a small yellow mask known as Mask of Darkness. It too was destroyed instantly by the inferno.  
"I now get a Trap Card back from my Graveyard." Yugi said. "I'll get back Ring of Destruction."  
"Fine by me." Horus said 'I'll end my turn."

"As you end your turn I play Dust Tornado and destroy Call of the Haunted thus destroying your wolf." Yugi interrupted. A large tornado cloud formed in front of Yugi and made its way towards the gravestone behind Horus's Pitch Black Warwolf. The gravestone was blown away by the tornado and Horus's Warwolf shattered instantly afterwards. 'I now get to place one card face down." Yugi said, "Now I draw. I summon Exiled Force to the field." A group of ragtag bandits and soldiers emerged. This group had 1000 Attack Points. "Exiled Force, attack Horus's Servant." Yugi Shouted. One by one, each member of the band threw a spear at Horus's Servant. The monster blocked as best as it could but at 100 defense points could not withstand the hits and finally was destroyed.  
"Now I can use Exiled Force's ability to sacrifice it and destroy Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level 8!!" Yugi shouted. One by one, each member of the exiled Force leaped onto and grabbed a hold of Horus' Dragon. Once each member had grabbed the dragon, they began to squeeze, until they squeezed so hard that not only did they destroy the dragon, but also they destroyed themselves. Horus Level 8 screamed out in pain as the team exploded and brought the mighty dragon to its knees.  
Horus covered his face and dropped to one knee, "Trust me Yugi, DUCK!!!" he said. The dragon finally collapsed and exploded in a massive firestorm that looked like a bomb had just exploded. Yugi took Horus's suggestion and got down to cover himself up from the blast. 

"Good Shot Yugi!!" Horus proclaimed. He knew in his heart that Yugi had proven himself to be once again back at top form and could now face the task at hand. Horus now knew how this duel should end.  
"I now activate Soul Resurrection to once again revive Dark Magician." Once again, Dark Magician emerged from underneath the ground. This time he assumed a crouch-blocking stance. "Go ahead." Yugi said

Horus drew his card. "Perfect!" He said "I'll set once card face down and use my own Ring of Destruction on Dark Magician." Once again, Yugi's Dark Magician was ensnared in a Ring of Destruction about to explode. This time, the blast would deal enough damage to wipe out both Horus's and Yugi's Life Points resulting in a draw.  
'That blast will finish us both Yugi, so brace yourself!" Horus shouted as he dropped to one knee and shielded himself  
"Not if I finish you first!" Yugi proclaimed, "I chain the Quick Play Magic Card, Poison of the Old Man!" This will deal 800 points of damage to your Life Points causing you to hit zero first and ending the duel.  
" Nice Try Yugi, but I have a Quick Play Magic Card of my own." Horus shouted back. "I play Mystic Wok on my face down monster!" With this I send one monster to the graveyard, select either the attack of Defense strength and gain that much Life back." A large cooking Wok appeared and scooped up Horus's face down Monster that was shown to be a small insect creature with a skull marking on it's back called Skull-Mark Ladybug. The bug was cooked up inside the Wok and a surge of heat and warmth ran through Horus's body as his Life Points jumped from 400 to 2900.

"Allow me to explain." Horus said as the Wok cooked his monster. "My Skull Mark Ladybug has 1500 Defense points so I choose to gain its defense. I now gain 1500 Life Points. Plus I gain 1000 Life points from my Ladybug's Special ability, which kicks on whenever it hits the graveyard."

As a result of this massive exchange of moves, Horus's Life points jumped to 2900. As soon as this happened, he felt the surge of venom from Yugi's Poison of the Old Man; he dropped down to 2100 Life Points. After that happened, the ring around Dark Magician finally detonated and destroyed Dark Magician. Both Horus and Yugi were sent reeling backwards from the blast, which knocked 2500 Life Points from both of them. They both had zero Life Points left. The duel was a draw.

"Jeez!!" Maximus shouted, "Did you guys see that last chain???"  
'That was insane!" Joey commented.

Yugi was down on his knees. Horus was on one knee. Both were breathing heavily as they regained their bearings after the last blast. After a few minutes, Horus was able to get up. He walked up to Yugi and extended his hand to help Yugi up.

"WOW!!" Horus said, "Excellent game!"


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Walking the Path

Yugi looked up and saw that Horus was extending his hand to him. Yugi reached out and took Horus's handshake. As Yugi got up, Horus smiled at him.  
"Yugi; I hope you realize what you've just done." Horus said "You have just fought to a draw against me and this deck. You did great."  
"You really think so?" Yugi asked

"Absolutely", Horus began "You do realize that you actually managed to destroy Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level 8!! That's something that only Dan and Sean have ever done before until now. Although it seems that every time one of those two actually does that, it comes back to haunt them later on, Right?"  
"Uhhhhhhhh did you have to remind me about that one?" Maximus asked with little enthusiasm

"Yugi, I've been dueling against top level duelists for years now and they all probably WISH they could have fought to a draw against me and this deck." Horus began, "Do you remember that guy, oh what's his name…Bandit Keith?"  
"Yeah, the cheating little creep." Yugi answered  
"I played him some time ago; this was before I met up with Dan and Sean, and I pulverized him. The final score was Mathias Blackheart: 8000, Bandit Keith: 0. When he saw what Horus Level 8 could do, he just gave up and cried. The list goes on from there, I've fought countless duels against Regional Champs, State Champs, Continental Champs and even the occasional World Champion, as you saw against Kaiba. What do all of them have in common? I didn't just beat these guys; I humbled them. I made them look like absolute crap. And just now I go up against Yugi Moto, a former World Champion and he actually goes full-tilt with a man who has beaten so many champions before. Dan and Sean also have countless victories against high-level duelists and they too have humbled many a Champion. We define "Being the Best" as competing against the best competition out there and giving them our all. Yugi, you have just done that. You went up against one of the most dangerous duelists out there and gave him everything you had. You should be proud of yourself."

Yugi perked up a bit, "I didn't realize that I actually did all of that." He said, "I felt like I needed a big win in order to be able to hang with people of your caliber."  
"This game is about more than winning, and you of all people should know that." Horus said, "Duel Monsters is about striving to become your very best. There's so much more to it than fame, glory and victory. Just look at your friend Joey. He duels for his sister, Serenity."  
"He's right Yug," Joey chimed in. "Sure, I may enjoy winning duels, but it's not the main reason why I duel. I duel because of Serenity. She's been through a lot and someone needs to take care of her. And to do that, I just want to become the best that I can be."  
"Well, I think that maybe I can do my part in taking down these guys and rescue Tea." Yugi said. He then looked back at Horus. "I'm sorry I was such a jerk to you. You've made me a better duelist and I am grateful."  
"Don't you mention it." Horus replied, "But we really should get back to the task at hand here." Horus motioned everyone into a huddle. "Set and the rest of his band of freaks wait inside the Temple. The time has come to destroy them. It will not be easy, but trust in yourselves and your abilities and we shall emerge victorious."

"I said it before and I'll say it again, I'm right there with you guys!" Joey said  
"I am fully ready to face whatever challenges they have in store for us." Yugi said, "I know in my heart that I can face them, and with my new friends I will have strength to do it. I'm here with you guys."  
"That's the spirit. Yugi!" Horus said  
"Well this is what we've prepared for and there's no going back now." Maximus added and he threw his and into the center of the huddle for a group handshake. "Let's get these sickos!"  
"It's time to put an end to this, once and for all." Shinobi said as he threw his hand on top of Maximus's. Horus, Joey and Yugi all followed suit and in unison all 5 yelled out THE SAINTS!!! The huddle disbanded and the five all walked up the front steps side-by-side and slowly entered the dark torch-lit interior of the Temple.

The first room was a large, dimly lit entrance hallway with multiple different passageways leading in different directions. In one corner of the room there was a stairway leading to a catwalk with another passageway. There was no one else inside the hallway, or at least there was no one willing to come out and make an introduction.

"The place looks deserted." Yugi said, "Are sure they're even here?"  
"They're here all right." Horus answered. "They're hiding. Waiting for us to fall into their clutches."  
"Cowards. If they believe themselves to be so right and so powerful let them come out and confront us like warriors." Shinobi said  
Horus raised up his hand signaling everyone to stop. He then looked around in every direction to examine the room. He noticed mostly that the floor had markings on it. At certain intervals there were round metal plates inside the stone floor. There were also round holes on all of the walls.  
"Everybody watch your step." Horus said. "They've got the place booby trapped." Maximus was about to step forward onto one of the metal plates but Horus caught him in time. He calmly pushed Maximus back and reached forward with his foot to press on the plate. The plate sunk into the floor and a long spear flew out of a hole in the wall and embedded itself in the opposite side of the wall. The spear flew right through the spot where Maximus would have stood had he taken that step.

Maximus breathed a heavy sigh of relief "WHEW!!! Thanks Mathias, I almost got skewered."  
Horus just looked at everyone; "Once again, watch your step. This place is full of booby traps." He said, just then Shinobi's voice rang out in everyone's head through his pendant.  
"I suggest we keep our voices down to a whisper. And we'd better get moving. They could be on their way as we speak."  
"Good Idea Sean," Horus whispered. He called everyone together for another huddle. "Ok We'd better split up." He said, "We can cover more ground that way, plus one trap won't be able to catch all of us. There's a series of tunnels in here. I'll go up to the Catwalk. Sean, take the one on the right. Dan, take the center path. Yugi, head for the tunnel in the corner by the back of the stairwell. Joey, go with Yugi. Be careful." Horus reached into his coat and pulled out a head cowl that looked like a Hawk's head and put it on. "Let's roll!"

Everyone went to their separate passageways, being careful not to step on any metal panels. As the group disappeared from each other's view Horus shouted "Good Luck" then everyone went their separate ways.

Maximus made his way through the dark torch lit passageway. It led into a long corridor that seemed to wander around in circles. He traversed the path slowly, making sure that whatever traps may have been set for him he did not spring. After about 15 minutes in this corridor he saw a patch of ground that looks discolored. Suspecting this was a trap; he carefully crouched down and extended his foot onto the discolored area. Sure enough, the ground gave away and revealed an open pit lined with sharp wooden sticks. Maximus then proceeded to walk around this hole. After he had safely reached the other side of the pit he took one step further and felt his foot catch on something. He looked down and saw his foot caught on a long, wire stretching across the hallway. Maximus froze, knowing he was nearly caught in a trap. "OK" he thought to himself. "I'm gonna have to just jump for dear life." Maximus removed his foot from the wire and at once a pair of trap doors flew open underneath him. Maximus fell through a long winding tunnel, ultimately landing feet-first in a room with no lights.  
"This is bad!" Maximus said to himself. Just then an ominous voice rang out through the room.  
"Well Well Well! At last we meet…Maximus!"


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Nowhere to Hide

Maximus turned around frantically in all directions at the sound of this voice. Someone was in the room watching him. "Who are you? Show yourself!" Maximus shouted. The room then brightened from torches on the walls that somehow became lit. Maximus could see that he was in a small holding chamber with nothing except torches on the walls. There were no visible doors to be found except for the tunnel Maximus fell through. In one corner stood a robed figure. He stood about 5 and half feet tall with a medium build. His skin was a clear as Maximus's and was completely bald. In one eye he wore a monocle.

"At last we meet Maximus, or should I say Daniel Clay." The man said rather ominously. "I am The Seer. I have the power to see what lies ahead. The future is made clear to me."  
"Well then, I presume you know that I have come to destroy your master." Maximus said rather confidently.  
"Indeed I do," The Seer responded, "You and your friends, Yugi Moto, Joey Wheeler, Mathias Blackheart and last but not least, Sean Phoenix. You have entered my lair Maximus. I cannot allow you to proceed any further. I shall protect Lord Set at any cost.  
Maximus quickly drew his sword from his side. As he held the blade fully extended, he swung it upward and the blade swung down at the hilt and folded over his left arm. He then took out his deck and placed it into the deck reader slot on one end of the hilt. The Seer slowly stepped forward and lifted up his robes. He pulled out a sheet of glass that looked like it was an enlarged eyeglass frame. The frame slid across The Seer's left arm and he placed a deck of his own into the reader.

"Now you will witness my powers in action." The Seer bellowed as he drew 5 cards. He then drew a sixth. "Since we're in my domain, I shall begin this little duel. I'll set these two cards face down and set one monster face down." The Seer then snickered. "Your turn Daniel. Let's see your swordsmen slice through this."

Maximus drew his 5 cards and then a sixth to begin his turn. "You want it sliced, I'll slice it good." He said, "I'll set this card face down, and Summon Mystic Swordsman Level 2 to the field." His face down card materialized and so did his small Mystic Swordsman Level 2. "Swordsman, Attack his face down card." Maximus shouted and his Swordsman ran forward and prepared to rapidly slash whatever The Seer had set down. The Seer smiled, "I knew you'd try that. That's why I set this card down. Activate Ceasefire!!! This will flip my face down monster face up, so that your swordsman will have to attack it instead of just destroying it. Plus you'll lose 500 Life Points for every effect monster on the field."

The Seer's trap activated and his face down monster began to glow and turn and reveal itself. It was a large green statue with ancient writing on it and a facial expression that seemed to suggest it was blocking something. Meanwhile Maximus's Swordsman continued his attack but when he swung his sword at the statue, the sword just bounced off of its side and sent waves through the Swordsman's body. He began to shake violently before falling backwards to the ground. Maximus's Life Points dropped from 8000 to 7000.  
"That was my Stone Statue of the Aztecs." The Seer said, "It has 2000 Defense points, so your swordsman cannot cut through it so easily. Plus it has a special ability. So you lose 1000 Life Points from my Ceasefire. But now the real fun begins. My statue has a really nasty ability. If it is in defense position and is attacked, any damage it causes to my opponent gets doubled. So you lose another 2200 Life Points.

Maximus's Life Points fell all the way to 4800. As they decreased, he could see a bright light begin to burn his eyes. It made it difficult for him to see properly. "Ahhhhh!! My eyes!!" Maximus shouted. "What are you doing to me?"  
"Ha Ha Ha!" The Seer laughed, "I have used my powers to tap into the magic of The Chaos Realm. I've arranged it so that as our Life Points decrease, the light will blur our vision. When your Points reach Zero, the flash will be so bright that it will blind the loser forever. Enjoy what you see now Maximus, for it will be the last thing you ever see."  
"Chaos Realm? No! It can't be!" Maximus said to himself. "I'll end my turn."  
"And as you do I shall activate my other trap, Light of Intervention, this will prevent monsters from being placed face down." The Seer said. Maximus felt a surge of frustration run through his mind at this play, "Blast it! That thing will render my face down Book of Moon useless. It also means I cannot summon my higher Level Swordsmen." He thought to himself as he looked at the Mystic Swordsman Level 4 in his hand. "This is dead weight in my hand." Maximus thought to himself. He tried to remain calm so that The Seer would not be able to psych him out further. The Seer then drew a card. "Now I shall summon A Man with Wdjat to the field." There appeared a strange looking priest dressed in red robes with a hood and a strange swirling disc on his forehead. He had 1600 attack points and 1600 Defense points.

"Wdjat, Attack his Swordsman with Beam of the Ancients." The Seer said, his man raised his hands up to his forehead and the swirl released a laser beam directly at Maximus's Swordsman. The Swordsman was pierced by the beam and shattered. Maximus lost another 700 Life Points. His eyes began to burn with bright light once again. It hurt for him to keep his eyes fully open so Maximus kept his eyes asquint to minimize the pain.  
"I'll end my turn by setting one card face down." The Seer said. It's useless Maximus, I can see your every play and I shall be well prepared. It's easy to fight your opponents when you know what they are going to do ahead of time."

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" Maximus cut in, "A strong man doesn't need to see the future. He makes his own. I'll draw. I'll set two cards face down and Summon Marauding Captain in Attack Mode." Maximus said and his armored soldier stepped out onto the arena.  
"With Marauding Captain's special ability I shall Special Summon Command Knight in Defense Mode." Maximus's female knight emerged and dropped to one knee with her right arm across her chest. She had 1900 Defense points.   
"As you know, Command Knight gives all Warriors I control an extra 400 Attack Points." Maximus said as his both of his monsters jumped from 1200 to 1600 Attack Points.

"Fine by me." The Seer said as he drew his card. "Now I activate My Man with Wdjat's special ability, Beam of Revelation. This allows me to look at one face down card on my opponent's field. I'll take a look at the card in the center." Seer's man's hands glowed with a black aura. He then raised his hands up and caused Maximus's center face down card to rise up for Seer to look at. It was the trap card Sakuretsu Armor.

"Well, rather than let you use that trap on me. I'll switch my Man with Wdjat to Defense mode and Activate Seal of the Ancients. By paying 1000 Life Points, I can look at all your face down cards and every card in your hand." The Seer said. His Life Points dropped to 7000 and the Seer felt a slight sting in his eyes as two ancient hands emerged from a magic seal in the air and picked up all three of Maximus' cards. They were, Sakuretsu Armor, Book of Moon, and Enemy Controller. They also grabbed the one card in Maximus's hand, Mystic Swordsman Level 4. The Seer smiled "Well, I'll then play Pot of Greed, and draw two cards. Now I'll end my turn by setting this card face down."

Maximus drew. "Ok, let's see you block this one." Maximus said, "I'll activate Enemy Controller and put your Statue in Attack Mode." A video game controller ran from Seer's statue to Maximus's hands. Maximus performed a button sequence and The Seer's statue stood up and looked ready to attack. It only had 300 Attack Points.  
"Now Marauding Captain, Attack his Statue." Maximus shouted and his captain charged and raised his swords to swing. The Seer laughed.  
"You still don't get it do you? I activate Negate Attack." The Seer sprung his trap and Maximus's Captain swung his swords and they bounced against an invisible barrier that shielded Seer's Statue. Maximus closed his eyes and began to think. "I end my turn." He said.  
"Don't you understand Maximus."? The Seer began "Everything is made clear to me. I have seen what you are capable of and I am able to prepare well in advance to stop you. I can see everything; I know how you love your friends, and your beloved Swordsmen. And of course, your feelings for your beloved sister Mary…"  
"You leave my sister out of this!!" Maximus shouted, "Mary never harmed anyone! This is between you and me!"  
"I simply tell it as it is." The Seer said. "It is clear to me that you doubt my powers. So I must prove to you that I can in fact see into your mind and read the future."

"Really. Maximus interrupted, well then I'm guessing you can see this then." Maximus shouted. His eyes flashed white and his glasses began to glow. He projected into The Seer's head an image, of him staring down Maximus' Command Knight, Marauding Captain and Mystic Swordsman Level 6. Mystic Swordsman then jumped forward and slashed at The Seer. The Seer screamed out in pain and fell to the ground holding his eyes. The Seer looked at this vision and was puzzled.   
"So what's your point?" He asked  
"That my friend is how this duel shall end." Maximus said, "I have SEEN it, and so have you."

The Seer drew and began his turn. "I'll sacrifice my Statue and summon Mind on Air in Defense mode." His statue faded away and a cloud of purple mist materialized on The Seer's field. The mist formed into a being. This creature dropped into a block stance and had 1600 defense points. As it appeared Maximus's hand began to glow. Images of his cards appeared above his head for The Seer to see. He saw Maximus's two cards, Mystic Swordsman Level 4 and a Magic Card called Level Up!  
"As you can see, my Mind on Air's ability allows me to look at your hand at all times." The Seer said, "I think I shall end my turn with this." 

Maximus drew. His card was Pot of greed. "I'll activate Pot of Greed and draw two more cards." He drew the trap Windstorm of Etaqua and book of Taiyou. Maximus thought for a moment. He considered placing some of his cards on the field but he decided against it, because The Seer would know what he has. "I'll end my turn now." Maximus said "Bring it on you no good slime ball!"   
The Seer drew his card. "I'll set this one card face down and end my turn."

Maximus drew his card. He looked at it and recognized it. "The card Mathias gave me just the other day. This might be just what I need to turn things around." Maximus said to himself. The Seer looked puzzled  
"The time has come to turn this duel around Seer." Maximus proclaimed rather confidently, "and you won't SEE this coming. I promise you that."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Seeing is Believing

"What is that thing?" The Seer asked, "I've never seen that card before." He sounded concerned about the card Maximus drew.

"Hold on a second." Maximus bellowed, "I thought you knew everything. I thought you were supposed to be able to read the future ahead of time. Surely then you should have know what I just drew. Don't worry though. I'll give you a proper introduction. Seer, say hello to my new friend Chiron the Mage!!!"

Maximus laid his card down on the edge of his blade and forth onto the field came a beast with the head and torso of a man but the body and legs of a horse. It had on a steel breastplate and a steel helmet. In its hand Chiron held a long wooden staff with a large red crystal sphere on the end. Chiron bucked up on his hind legs and shouted a loud battle cry. He had 1800 Attack points.

"Chiron, destroy Mind on Air! Heavy Stampede!" Maximus shouted.

Chiron raised his staff and began to charge at full speed towards The Seer's Mind on Air. When Chiron was within striking range he swung his staff, blunt end first and The Seer's Creature, striking it directly in the head and shattering it. As Mind on Air shattered, the card images above Maximus's head disappeared. And The Seer could no longer see Maximus's hand. Maximus then began to shuffle around the cards in his hand to throw The Seer off even further.

"Well! That's one less opening you have to predict my moves." Maximus said, "And now to eliminate another obstacle in my way. I shall now activate Chiron's Special Ability. At the cost of discarding one magic card from my hand I can destroy one magic or trap card on the field. Looks like your Light of Intervention is about to fade away into the darkness."

Maximus discarded his Level Up! Magic Card to the Graveyard. Once it hit the Graveyard, the crystal on the end of Chiron's staff began to glow a deep red. He pointed his staff at The Seer's Light of Intervention Trap and fired a red energy blast that shattered the card on impact. The Seer groaned in frustration

"No! This cannot be!" The Seer screamed, "I cannot see what he's got anymore!"

Maximus smiled, "Well now! Well now! I guess you're not able to see the future like you used to. Now that I have ways to hide my moves and plans I think this duel has begun to turn my way. I'll end my turn. Come on Seer. Let's see what you can do this time."

The Seer drew his card in anger. "That's it Maximus!! Game time is over; it's time to make you suffer!" He shouted. "First I'll activate my Dust Tornado on your Sakuretsu Armor." The Seer's card releases a cyclone that swallowed up and destroyed Maximus's face down Sakuretsu Armor. "Next I'll use Premature Burial to revive my Stone Statue." The Seer's Life Points dropped to 6200 and his statue emerged from the floor. "Now I shall sacrifice my Man with Wdjat and my statue to summon my most powerful creature, my Mystical Knight of Jackal!"

The two creatures faded out of sight and a large blade appeared in the air, cutting through the air itself. The blade made a large slit in the air and out of this slit stepped a large beast with ancient Egyptian style armor and headdress. Long punching daggers were strapped to its arms. It stood up on its legs as if it were a human. This beast had 2700 Attack Points.

The Seer laughed with confidence, "And now little Maximus, I shall unleash upon you the power of my Jackal. Attack his Marauding Captain!!" The Seer shouted.

His Jackal ran forward towards Maximus's Captain and delivered a devastating punch directly to the chest. The Captain clutched his chest, fell to one knee and shattered. Maximus lost 1100 Life Points, leaving him with 3000. As his Life Points, fell the light began to burn his eyes with even more intensity. It had reached a point where Maximus had to close his eyes every several seconds to numb the pain. He was blinded enough that he could not see a twinkle of light appear in his deck reader.

"You've lost 1100 Life Points and your Captain was destroyed." The Seer bellowed. "And as a bonus, whenever Mystical Knight of Jackal destroys a monster in battle, I am allowed to return it to the top of my opponent's deck. Now that I know what you shall draw next, I need not fear your plans. But I'll set this card face down anyway, just to be safe."

"Ahhhhh," Maximus grunted as his eyes burned. He drew, and saw the same Marauding Captain that was just destroyed. "I think I have an idea. I can finally summon out a Swordsman." Maximus thought to himself, "Thank you Seer!!" Maximus proclaimed, "I can finally summon my Mystic Swordsman. I summon My Marauding Captain and use his ability to Special Summon Mystic Swordsman Level 4!"

Maximus's Captain reappeared and at his side appeared the Lever 4 version of Mystic Swordsman. His Double-Bladed Sword glowed and his attack power jumped from 1900 to 2300 thanks to Command Knight's effect.

"Now I'll use my Book of Moon to flip your Jackal Face down."

As Maximus's card activated and the magic book spread its magic upon The Seer's Jackal, The Seer sprung into action.

'Thought you'd try that. So I play Threatening Roar! This will prevent you from attacking me this turn."

Maximus didn't seem phased. "That's fine with me." He said, "I can wait a turn to finish off your Jackal. I'll just set this card down for now. OK Seer, do your worst!"

"I shall do just that." The Seer said. "First I'll flip my Jackal back into attack Mode." The Seer flipped up his monster and in a shower of light Mystical Knight of Jackal was back on the field. "Now to eliminate that little Captain of yours and further blind you. My Jackal has 2700 Attack Points and nothing you have can stand against it! Mystical Knight of Jackal, attack his Marauding Captain with Punishing Fist!" His Jackal once again threw a punch at Maximus's Marauding Captain.

Maximus only grinned. "I can't believe it! You honestly did not see this coming." Maximus half-jokingly said, Activate trap, Windstorm of Etaqua!"

The Seer was stunned. "What! What is that?? What does it do?" he asked in a panic as a flock of crows appeared on Maximus's field and beat their wings rapidly, forcing Mystical Knight of Jackal into a defensive stance.

"Allow me to explain. Windstorm of Etaqua forces all face up monsters my opponent controls to switch battle positions. So your Jackal is now in defense mode. And I just noticed that he only has 1200 Defense Points. Funny, you told me I had nothing that could defeat your Jackal." Maximus said.

The Seer began to grow angry. "You want to play games with me!! I'll fix you good. I'll set one card face down and set one monster in defense mode. Go ahead and attack me if you dare!"

Maximus smiled confidently. He knew that he had turned the tables on The Seer. Since he could not see Maximus's hand or field, he was ill prepared to counteract Maximus's moves.

"I don't know what that face down card is, and I don't trust it. I'll use Chiron's Ability once again. I'll discard my Offerings to the Doomed Magic Card to destroy it."

Maximus dropped his card and Chiron released another blast from his staff, destroying The Seer's face down trap card, Mirror Force.

"No! You can't do this!" The Seer shouted

'Funny, I can and I AM doing this." Maximus said. "Now, Mystic Swordsman attack his Jackal!"

Maximus's Swordsman jumped forward and swung one end of his sword and plunged it deep into The Jackal's heart. The Seer's Jackal snapped backwards as the blade pierced through all the way and exited out its back. Finally the Jackal was destroyed. Maximus's Swordsman jumped back to position and began to glow.

"Now, I'll have Chiron attack your face down monster." Maximus shouted.

His Mage charged forward and swung its staff at The Seer's face down monster. It flipped up and a second Stone Statue of the Aztecs was revealed. Its 2000 Defense Points withstood Chiron's attack. Chiron's staff bounced off the side of the Statue and sent shockwaves through Maximus's body. His Life Points dropped to 2600 and the light got even more painful for him.

"Arrrrgh!! My Eyes!" Maximus shouted, "Another blasted Statue. No matter. I now end my turn. Now my Swordsman may grow and become Level 6!"

Maximus's Swordsman snapped his double bladed sword in two, and he grew up to Level 6 form. His Attack Power jumped to 2700.

The Seer drew. "Well, it seems I'm not in such bad shape as you think I am Maximus." He bellowed, "I activate Snatch Steal! This shall let me assume control of your precious Mystic Swordsman."

A pair of hands materialized and grabbed Mystic Swordsman and pulled him over to The Seer's field. When it reached The Seer's side, his attack strength fell back to 2300 because Command Knight could no longer power it up.

"Now your own Swordsman shall destroy your little Chiron. Attack!"

Mystic Swordsman Level 6 ran forward and did a spinning slash with his swords cutting Chiron at the chest and knees. Chiron shattered into pieces. Maximus lost another 500 Life Points. With only 2100 remaining, he could not keep his eyes open for more than five seconds at a time with out the light burning him too greatly.

"Next I shall sacrifice my Statue to set this card in defense mode. Go Ahead Maximus." The Seer said, "I can see once again. You are afraid. I have turned your beloved swordsman against you and you are slowly but surely going to lose this duel and your vision. If I were you, I'd make my last vision something sweet to carry you through the long days ahead of you as a blind man. I suggest you make it of your precious Mary."

Maximus's eyes glowed a dark brown, almost black color. "All right you sick, twisted, piece of garbage." He said slowly and fiercely. "Nobody drags my sister into something this evil. Do you hear me? NOBODY!!! I draw. And thinks to your Snatch Steal, I gain 1000 Life Points." Maximus's Life Points increased to 3100; the light faded a bit from his eyes. He could once again open them for an extended period, but he still had to squint to see. "I'll set this monster face down, and activate Book of Taiyou to flip it face up."

The Magical Book of Taiyou appeared over Maximus's face down monster and shone a bright orange sunlight upon it, revealing a young female magician. This was the Magician of Faith.

'As you know, Magician of Faith lets me take back a Magic Card from my Graveyard when flipped face-up." Maximus began. "So I'll take back and play my Pot of Greed." Maximus drew his two cards and looked up towards the ceiling. "Mary, this one's for you. I love you." He said to himself. "First I'll switch my Command Knight to Attack Mode, and then I'll activate Mystical Space Typhoon on Snatch Steal and take back my Swordsman!" Maximus's card activated and released a swirling storm at the hands holding onto Mystic Swordsman. The hands were shattered and Mystic Swordsman Level 6 jumped back to Maximus's field, and his swords glowed red as Command Knight once again powered up its strength to 2700.

"No! No! No!" The Seer shouted, "This is going to hurt."

"For once, I actually agree with your prediction." Maximus jokingly answered back. "Mystic Swordsman Level 6, Give his face down monster a dose of the Umbral Energy Blast."

At this command, Mystic Swordsman raised his swords over his head in an "X" shape. They glowed with black energy. The Swordsman then swung the blades downward and shot an energy wave that destroyed The Seer's face down monster, another Mind on Air, instantly upon impact.

"Now I'll have my Command Knight, Marauding Captain and Magician of Faith attack you directly." Maximus shouted.

Command Knight went first. She jumped forward raised her broadsword up and delivered a slash across The Seer's chest, stripping 1600 Life Points from him. Marauding Captain was next. He ran forward and delivered a double slash with each of his swords that took another 1600 Life Points from the Seer. He writhed in pain from the two hits and the light began to burn his eyes. Finally Magician of Faith jumped forward and delivered a swipe of her staff that took away 300 Life Points. The Seer was now down to 2700 Life Points. His eyes burned with bright light and his body was in considerable pain from the attacks. He, like Maximus did before him failed to see a twinkle of lights on top of his deck. Maximus then smiled confidently again and looked at The Seer.

"Say, do you remember that little vision I showed you earlier?" Maximus half-jokingly asked. "I guess I'm better at predicting the future than I thought. Look at my field Seer. It is exactly as I showed you it would be.

The Seer looked at Maximus's 4 monsters and froze with fear. He had no cards down on the field, and none left in his hand. He could not believe that Maximus was not only, near victory but also in the exact manner that Maximus showed him earlier in a vision.

"No! It can't be!" The Seer screamed. How is it possible that you could read the future? 

"This is what you get for dragging my sister into this battle." Maximus shouted, "This is between me and you, Mary has nothing to do with this. The good news is my turn is over; the bad news is I can tell you right now that the card you draw will not help you.

"We'll see about that." The Seer shouted as he drew. It was the exact same card Maximus destroyed with his Swordsman, Mind on Air. And since it required a sacrifice to summon, The Seer was completely out of options.

"This cannot be!" The Seer screamed, "How did you do this?"

"Your Jackal is not the only creature that can return a monster destroyed to the top of an opponent's deck." Maximus said, "At his Level 6 form, my Mystic Swordsman his that ability as well. As from the looks of things, I'd say that you're just about out of options. It's time to end this…

Please Maximus, I beg of you. No!" The Seer dropped to his knees and pleaded for mercy. Maximus would hear none of this.

"You should have thought about this before mentioning my sister. Mystic Swordsman, put an end to this now!" Maximus gave the order.

Mystic Swordsman Level 6 jumped forward, performing a double front somersault in mid-air. As he descended from his jump, he took his swords, held them parallel and swung downward slashing The Seer from head to toe. The slash removed all 2700 of The Seer's remaining Life Points. His score reached zero. At this exact moment, the light in Maximus's eyes faded away and he could see normally again. The Seer tried to cover his eyes up from the flash but it was no use. He saw a brilliant flash of light, like a star exploding in a supernova. He instantly fell backwards screaming out in pain and clutching his face.

"AHHHHHHH!!! My eyes!!! MY EYES!!!!" The now blind Seer screamed. "I cannot see. Everything is pitch black."

Maximus gathered up his cards and folded up his blade and placed it back in its scabbard. He held his deck up in his hand with the cards fanned out. He pulled out Chiron the Mage and kissed it.

"Thank you Chiron." He said, "I could not have done this with out you."

He then put his deck back into the box on his hip and walked up to The Seer. He pulled him around onto his back. Maximus straddled him and raised up his fist as if to beat The Seer to death. Maximus was still full of intense fury for having his sister dragged into this duel.

"I ought to kill you right now." Maximus angrily said. "Don't you EVER, mention my sister's name again. Do you hear me, EVER!!!?"

The Seer cut him off "Please don't hurt me. I'll tell you everything you need to know. Please just spare my life. It wasn't my doing. Lord Set, Lord Set told me everything. He told me that you had a sister named Mary and you loved her very much. He told me about your friends, Yugi, Joey, Sean and Mathias. Everything I told you I 'Saw' I was merely told by Set and was instructed to use against you to mess with your mind. I'm a fraud! I admit that and now I shall spend the rest of my life in total darkness. Please, don't hurt me anymore. Let me live I beg of you."

Maximus's anger subsided. It was as if some form of compassion had taken over his thinking. He lowered his fist calmly.

"All right. I shall show you mercy. I will spare your life. But first I want to know how to get out of here." He said

The Seer reached for a pendant around his neck. He took it off and handed it to Maximus.

"Here. Take this. It is the key to the door on the wall." He said. "If you look on the wall hard enough you will find an opening to insert this key. The pathway leads to the upper chambers. It's how I entered this chamber. You should not have much trouble navigating through the passageway.

"If you are lying to me. I will come find you and kill you myself." Maximus said.

He got up off of The Seer and walked towards the wall. In one corner he found a small keyhole. He inserted the key The Seer gave him and turned it. A wall panel rose up and revealed a passageway. Maximus then cautiously made his way out of the chamber and into the long torch-lit tunnel. As he continued, something occurred to him.

"He mentioned the Chaos Realm." He thought to himself, "I'd better find Mathias; he needs to know about this."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Unfinished Business

In the meantime Shinobi wandered through the myriad of corridors lit only by the torches on the walls. He cautiously evaded several tripwire traps that The Eternal Hunters had set in the passageway. Eventually he reached a bend in the path. Right before the hallway curved, he made out a handle sticking out of the wall. Suspecting another trap but curious to see what would happen, Shinobi stood flat against the wall, reached out with his hand and pulled the handle down. A panel on the wall opposite Shinobi opened and revealed a second path. "I'll check this out first." Shinobi said to himself. He entered the doorway opened by the panel and entered a pitch-black room.

After he entered the room the wall panel slid down rapidly behind him. Shinobi ran as fast as he could for the door but it was too late. He was now trapped in total darkness. Then a voice rang out from the room.

"Well, it looks like I'll actually get to finish what I started so long ago." The voice echoed throughout the room. Shinobi looked all around until he saw it: a pair of deep green eyes staring directly at him.

"YOU!!" Shinobi growled, "I'd know those eyes anywhere. We meet again after all this time. You're the one who killed Solara you heartless beast!"

"Yes I did." the voice cut him off, "I was also going to kill you and claim your precious Philosopher's Stone, and give to my Master the power of Eternal Life. But alas I never got to complete my mission, until now that is."

Shinobi's eyes glared a flash of blue and he used his pendant to send his voice directly to the man's mind. "You'll complete no such thing. Your master shall burn for all eternity, and so will all those who follow him like pathetic sheep. You my green-eyed monstrosity are possibly the worst of them all. What kind of being are you, who would go around killing innocent people and claim that it is right?"

Just then the lights turned on and Shinobi was now face to face with the green-eyed man speaking to him in the darkness. He too wore the standard issue Eternal Hunter robes. "If you're going to insult me, the least you could do is call me by my proper name."

"You are not worthy of a name." Shinobi cut him off, "You are not a human to my eyes and deserve treatment deserving of a common beast."

"Well since I know your name…Sean Phoenix! I might as well tell you mine. I am known as Venom."

"A fitting name for a man as evil as yourself." Shinobi retorted.

Venom then pulled back his cloak and revealed a duel disc. His disc was green colored and resembled a snake. He swung his left arm out and the body of the snake swung out to form the card readers. The deck reader was shaped like the snake's mouth. Venom placed his deck in the mouth of the snake and the fangs closed over top of it to hold it in place.

"You talk the talk. Let's see if you can walk the walk." Venom said as he slammed his deck into the deck reader.

Shinobi then removed his head covering and pulled out of his belt a large black throwing star. He tossed it into the air and caught it with his left hand. He then placed the star on his left arm and the blades folded out into dueling position

"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get." Shinobi shouted

"And when it is over, I shall repossess your Philosopher's Stone and hand deliver it to Lord Set." Venom replied. With this, both Shinobi and Venom began to draw 5 cards to begin a duel.

"I'll start this off if you don't mind." Venom said, "I'll set these two cards down on the field and summon Gravekeeper's Curse to the field."

A rush of air blew by Shinobi's body and there stood before him a strange priest-like figure that looked like he could be a Hunter himself. He was dressed in black robes with Egyptian Hieroglyphs decorating them. In one hand he held a small sickle. This creature had only 800 Attack points and 500 Defense points. As soon as it stood up straight, the man launched a beam from his sickle that struck Shinobi and dropped his Life Points down to 7500.

"My Gravekeeper's Curse has the ability to automatically deal 500 points of damage to my opponent as soon as it is summoned." Venom arrogantly proclaimed as Shinobi writhed from the hit. "Now I'll make things interesting by activating the Magic Card, Dark Snake Syndrome."

"What kind of devilish Magic is this?" Shinobi asked

Venom was rather calm and confident "Oh you'll see old boy. Just wait." He said.

"Fine then it's my move." Shinobi drew his sixth card. "Isn't that lovely?" he said. "I'll start by playing my Pot of Greed. Next I'll set 4 cards face down. Finally I'll summon one of my old friends, Cyber Falcon!"

From the ceiling of the room a large metallic looking bird, with jet engines on its wings and feet hovered down into the area of the duel. This bird had 1400 Attack Points, enough to eliminate Venom's Gravekeeper.

"Attack my falcon." Shinobi shouted.

His falcon's engines pointed to the rear, fired up and propelled it forward towards Venom's Gravekeeper's Curse. The beak of the falcon dug deep into the Gravekeeper's chest and destroyed it. Venom lost 600 Life Points from the hit.

"That's right! You feel the pain; the pain of Solara and all the others who you and your kind have harmed over the years." Shinobi proclaimed, "Go forth scum. I end my turn."

Venom recovered and drew. "Now let the fun begin." He said. As he said this, his Dark Snake Syndrome sent out two snakes, one towards Shinobi and one towards Venom. The snakes each reached up and delivered a painful bite to each of their arms. Both of them lost 200 Life Points.

"At each of my Standby Phases my Dark Snake Syndrome will infect both of us." Venom explained. "The first bite is for 200 Life Points and will only get worse as time goes on. Now I'll activate the trap Rite of Spirit and revive my Gravekeeper's Curse."

Venom activated his trap and a large caldron appeared in the middle of the playing field. White smoke began to emerge from the top of the cauldron and out of this smoke; Venom's Gravekeeper's Curse reappeared and jumped back down into position. It once again fired a beam at Shinobi taking another 500 of his Life Points. The score now read Venom: 7200, Shinobi: 6800.

"Now I activate the magic card, Necrovalley. This card seals off the effects of all cards that involve the Graveyard, prevents both of us from removing cards from our graveyards from Play, and gives my Gravekeepers and additional 500 Attack and Defense points."

When Venom played this card, the very environment changed. He and Shinobi appeared to be transported out into a remote desert valley with the pyramids in the distance and the sun hovering overhead burning the cards in their graveyards with intense heat. Venom continued his turn.

"Now I activate Forced Ceasefire. By discarding one card from my hand I can prevent both of us from playing any Traps for the rest of this turn. Now I shall tribute my Curse to summon Gravekeeper's Chief."

Venom's Curse vanished and in its place stood a larger Priest with the same Egyptian markings. This priest held a long wooden staff and wore white robes with a headband. The Chief had 1900 Attack Points but the Magic of Necrovalley raised this number to 2400.

"The magic of my Gravekeeper's Chief frees my Graveyard from the restraints of Necrovalley." Venom said. He also lets me revive one Gravekeeper from my Graveyard, so once again here comes Gravekeeper's Curse." Once again,

Venom's Gravekeeper's Curse appeared and shot a blast at Shinobi dealing 500 points of damage.

"And now Gravekeeper's Chief will attack your pathetic Falcon." Venom shouted.

His Gravekeeper's Chief raised his staff up over his head and swung downward releasing from the tip a blast of red energy that cut Shinobi's Falcon in two shattering it to pieces and dealing 1000 points of damage to Shinobi's Life Points.

"Now I'll end my turn. Go on Sean let's see what you can do now." Venom taunted

"As you end your turn. I activate the Magic of Scapegoat." Shinobi played his card and four small harmless sheep appeared in front of him.

"Ohhhhhh I'm scared." Venom taunted again

"You laugh now but we'll see what you're doing at the end of this turn." Shinobi retorted. "I draw. Now I summon Hand of Nehpthys to the field." Shinobi's bird-headed magician appeared on the field. "I shall now use her special ability, sacrificing her plus one of my scapegoats, allowing me to reach into my deck and call forth the almighty Phoenix God of Nephthys!!!!"

Shinobi's Hand and one of his Sheep vanished. A ring of fire appeared in the air above his head. The fire spread and closed in the ring. Eventually the fire took form and the mighty Phoenix roared to life from within the firestorm. At 2400 points, an attack against Venom's Gravekeeper's chief would result in a kamikaze attack.

"I can't risk losing my Phoenix in battle now." Shinobi began, "So I activate the Magic Card, Kishido Spirit. With this little toy active, my monsters cannot be destroyed in battles with opposing monsters with the same Attack Strength. Now My Phoenix, burn his Gravekeeper's Chief with Searing Soul of Flame!"

The Phoenix spread its arms and wings back, concentrated for a moment and finally extended them forward releasing streams of fire from each arm and wing. Venom's Chief attempted to fire off a shot from his staff but by the time he could raise his staff, the flames and scorched him. Grave Keeper's Chief fell to the floor covered in flames and shattered.

Shinobi smiled, "Solara, I shall avenge you." He said to himself, he then addressed Venom: "Soon, very soon. You shall have your sinful heart incinerated. The time has come for you to pay for your crimes."

Venom was still defiant. "Don't be so sure about that. This duel is far from over, and I assure you I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve."

As Venom drew his card, the Dark Snake Syndrome kicked on once again. This time the twin snakes that emerged were slightly bigger. When they bit, both Shinobi and Venom lost 400 Life points from the bites. They both writhed and felt a surge of sickness run through their bodies.

"It's getting worse isn't it?" Venom asked. "Can you handle the sickness?"

"I can handle anything you have you monster." Shinobi defiantly responded. Venom was pleased to see such a fighting spirit in his opponent.

"That's the spirit. Keep fighting. It will only make it more satisfying when I defeat you." Venom continued to taunt Shinobi even though the duel was still seesawing back and forth. "I'll set these two cards face down and that will end my turn."

Shinobi drew, "Oh, how things are playing themselves out. I now summon another close friend of mine. White Magician Pikeru!"

A small circle of magical runes appeared on the ground and out of these runes emerged a small, female magician, dressed in white. She had blonde hair and appeared to have a Scapegoat hollowed out and was wearing it on her head. He had 1200 Attack Points.

"Phoenix! Burn away his curse with Searing Soul of Flame!" Shinobi shouted, at this command, his Phoenix once again extended its arms and wings, releasing a flame burst that incinerated Venom's Gravekeeper's Curse. It was destroyed and Venom lost 1100 Life Points. He now had 5700 left. "And now Pikeru shall attack directly." Shinobi said, his magician waved her arms and shot a small, but potent ball of energy at Venom. The ball hit Venom in the knees causing them to buckle underneath him. He lost another 1200 Life Points.

"Go ahead you no good pathetic excuse for a human being." Shinobi barked at Venom

Venom drew his card. As he did so, the Dark Snake Syndrome sprung into action once again. This time the snakes would deal 800 points of damage to each of them. Venom was prepared however.

"Rather than take my share of the Syndrome, I'll activate the Trap, Barrel Behind the Door to send my 800 points of damage over to you Sean my boy."

The snake that moved toward Venom entered a long tube that circled around and exited out behind Shinobi, hitting him from behind just as the other snake bit him in the arm. Shinobi lost 1600 Life Points instead of 800. He was now down to 3300 and he began to feel sick.

"You don't look so good Sean." Venom said in his usual taunting tone. "To be honest I'm not feeling well either so I'll play Emergency Provisions for a quick pick-me-up."

Venom activated his card and both his Dark Snake Syndrome and Necrovalley were compacted and transformed into travel rations that entered Venom's deck stimulating him and adding 2000 Life Points to his total. He was back up to 6500 Life Points. With Necrovalley gone also, they were both transported out of the desert and back into the chamber within the Temple.

"I tell you what, I'll end my turn." Venom said

"Fair enough." Shinobi said. "As I draw my magician's ability kicks on, restoring some of MY Life Points as well. 400 for every monster I control. I gain back 2000 Life Points as well."

Pikeru raised her arms up into the air and released a shower of light down on Shinobi, sending a warm sensation through his body and increasing his Life Points by 2000. The score now read Venom: 6500, Shinobi: 5300.

"Now for a bit of protection." Shinobi began "I realize my Phoenix is the strongest monster in play but one can never be too sure. That's why I play Swords of Revealing Light!"

An array of swords that glowed with light encircled Venom's monster Zone and set up a barrier preventing any attacks from penetrating through.

"That ends my turn." Shinobi said.

Venom cautiously drew his card. He was in a tough situation at the moment, but as he looked at his card and he smirked.

"I think this might be just what I needed." He said to himself, "It's a gamble, but if it pays off I'll have him right where I want him." Venom then looked up at Shinobi.  
"I'm truly sorry about Solara. But if it makes you feel any better, I'm about to reunite the two of you."


End file.
